“High school and college are two totally different beasts,” Tyler age 44 said.
In high school, he managed to receive A’s and B’s while participating in National Honors Society, basketball, football, wrestling and track. Being one of 747 students, Tyler graduated in the top fifty percent of his class at Nicolet High School.

But he says, “I did just enough to get by in college.”
He was dedicated…to his fraternity. All his effort went towards his social life. Having a good time was at the top of his priority list. Soon, this A student became a C student.

The week before finals (second semester junior year), Tyler had an unfortunate incident on the basketball court. He tore up his ankle. He hurt it to the point that he was on bed rest loaded with medication. Studying for exams wasn’t possible while on pain killers. Professors gave him extensions for exams, but he couldn’t make up for lost time. Tyler failed his exams – all of them. His grade point average plummeted to a 2.0.

Immediately after exams, he was called into the dean’s office. He was asked to take a semester off.
“It felt like a ton of bricks hit me,” he says.
He didn’t see it coming. But he had to inform his girlfriend.

Debbie and Tyler had been dating since their freshman year at Valparaiso University. He knew she was looking forward to living in an apartment closer to the fraternity house next year. They were planning to spend more time together. Breaking this kind of news was going to upset her.

Over the summer, Debbie called Tyler to discuss living arrangements for next year.
“Hey where are you going to live next year?” she asked. Silence. Words fumbled out of his mouth. He told her he wasn’t going to Valpo next year.
Before he had a chance to explain she said, “I can’t believe you did this to us!” She was mad. Mad at his poor decisions. Mad at their deteriorating relationship. Mad at the situation in general.
“I thought our life was over,” she says.
Tyler was determined to turn this situation around. He enrolled in classes at Carroll College. After a year and a half, he graduated with a 3.95 grade point average.
Tyler now understood the consequences of his actions. He learned the importance of making good decisions.
He says, “There are times in people’s lives when reality smacks you in the face. There are other times when people you love and respect smack you in the face with reality. When they happen at the same time, you have to be stupid not to follow the signs. And I am not stupid.”