JD 333

Well, loyal readers, I have been wanting to post this blog for a while but had lacked motivation. Due to the imminent 5-part series starting next Monday, I found it most expedient to post this blog today. In keeping with the "Get a degree in JD" series, I have taught you general information about myself and have moved on to giving you a heads-up on some of the nuances of my personality, I decided to again kick it up a notch. This time JD and the Power of 3 combine to bring you JD 333: The Unabridged History. Sit back, 'cause this one's going to be a doozy.

To start the story off, we'll start when I began. I was born April 4, 1987. Nothing of too much consequence occurred for the first couple years of my life (at least anything that I can remember) other than the arrival of my sister in 1989, a necessary and much-appreciated arrival to the family.

By the time I was three, in 1990, I was sporting the mullet and a very outgoing personality. I made Mr. Rogers look like Oscar the Grouch. As the legend goes, I even went so far as to allow a girl to bite me in the face. I don't much remember it, but there are enough credible sources to verify the story. This era of my personality lasted until 1992.

In 1992, I entered kindergarten. I struggled to find my niche for most of the schoolyear and started to turn inward a bit. It was a rough beginning to my schooling. By the end of the year, I came into my own and developed into a friendly, yet rambunctious child, a phase that lasted until 1995. During this time, I was never hesitant to make new friends, and even had little to no fear of rejection, as evidenced by my pursuit of a girl named Cassie from 1993-1994.

By 1995, I had begun to gain weight and was out of shape. Also, that year, my family left Stone Church for Christian Hills. It was not a good time for me, as I was never really accepted at that church and had no choice but to hang out with the misfits and troublemakers. During this time, I had the tendency to not think before I acted while also becoming more of an introvert. It did not help that also during this period I was often used as a physical and verbal punching bag in tae kwon do by one of the instructors. This phase lasted until 1999.

By 1999, I began a personal renaissance. I had undergone a growth spurt that eliminated me of the chunkiness and began to exhibit some athleticism (though I still ran on my toes, an unfortunate habit that did not leave me until 2004). I was freer to be myself at times and act out in ways. It was at this time I truly found my group of friends, and we've hung out ever since. In 2000, my family returned to Stone. I finally gave up having crushes on celebrities and actually fell for a real girl. Due to my inexperience and immaturity, I hilariously fell on my face in that pursuit, but as you can see, I've lived and learned in a way. The renaissance lasted from 1999 to 2001, culminating with my graduation from Stone Church Christian Academy.

In 2001, I moved out of the parochial bubble and on to public school. That summer, I experienced my first taste of rejection at Junior High Camp, a feeling that I will probably never forget. When I started high school, I didn't know how to act, how to dress, and who I really was. Therefore, for my first couple months of high school I was basically silent. This silence some unfortunately viewed as arrogance, and the first semester was an absolute nightmare. By the beginning of 2002, I decided it was time to try to make a name for myself.

By the middle of 2002, I had gone through a bunch of personality gimmicks because none of them really seemed to fit me. I wasn't making any more friends from any of them, either. Then, I got the idea to be as strange as possible. I'd use large words rarely heard in conversation and drop the word "disturbed" every chance I got. Well, this behavior certainly got everyone's attention, but couldn't quite keep it. Then, I knew exactly how to hold it. This idea became known as Inside the Mind of Jakob Duehr.

Inside the MInd of Jakob Duehr was my AOL Hometown website that I updated weekly, long before blogs became trendy. I'd start the column with a dedication, then move on to a top 10, random opinions, a column airing disturbances, and the occasional DFilm movie. For whatever reason, this website did gain a lot of popularity, receiving over 10,000 hits in six months.

Midway through the "Website Era", I decided to end my three year run as a member of the youth group at Palos Bible Church because I never felt like I fit in. In retrospect, much of that was because I felt inferior because I was younger, which transferred to shyness and the occasional erratic behavior. Upon leaving that youth group due to feeling my time there was up, I really introspected. I decided to drop all goofy gimmicks and become myself. If people liked it, fine. If not, there's nothing I can do to change it, as their liking me due to some sort of gimmick isn't really liking me anyways. This realization led to another quasi-Renaissance in me, as I grew in joy and in self-esteem.

This growth abruptly ended in August 2003. As I have been prone to do from time to time, I acted strangely online with a girl I had never met causing a growing problem that culminated with a confrontation in the hallway of TPHS in January 2004. In retrospect, I still really didn't know how to act and didn't have enough confidence in myself. This for lack of a better word, stupid behavior caused irreparable damage to my reputation at Tinley and delayed personal development for about a year. By March 2004, I was done making excuses and was ready to get on with my life.

In late 2004, I did not touch a computer for three months. This was one of the greatest periods in my life, as I really got to learn more about myself and the people around me. That portion of my school year was my favorite time I had at Tinley Park High School, and I wouldn't trade those three months for anything.

However, it was not smooth sailing after that. In early 2005 I had two situations that I brought upon myself that were extremely uncomfortable. One had to do with a recurrence of erratic behavior at TPHS, that again, in retrospect, was greatly my fault. The other was in a conversation with a friend of mine/on again, off again love interest where I ran my mouth off a bit too far. I learned in these situations that, while I have come a long way, I still have a long way left to go.

August 2005 started another era for me, that of a working college student. While it started out with some bumps and bruises, it has overall gone quite well, and I have been able to view personal progress instead of stagnation or regression. I truly believe that I have come a long way these last nineteen years, and I am extremely excited where the next few years will take me. Would you like to join me on the ride?