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Twenty-six year old Adam Shepard knows what its like to scratch his way up to the top. His lifetime dream of professional basketball was coming true after graduating from Merrimack College on a basketball scholarship and heading to Europe to play pro-ball. Thirty-six hours later he was back in Raleigh, cut from the team and severed from his dream.
With a deep disagreement of the concepts outlined in Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich and nothing to lose, Shepard drew from twelve cities he had put in a hat and boarded a train to Charleston, South Carolina. With a tarp, a sleeping bag, an empty gym bag, $25, and the clothes on his back, Shepard was on a quest to see if the American dream was still alive.
In his book Scratch Beginnings Shepard narrates his journey while living in a homeless shelter in Charleston as he accomplishes his goal of a furnished apartment, a working vehicle, and $2,500.00 in the bank to either go back to school or start a business with, in one year. He shares with transparency his prejudices, misconceptions, and growth in character along the way as he pours out his story over the many pages of the book. Written in conversational prose, Shepard joked while speaking at a seminar on the FIT campus in September that he used only three ‘big’ words and they were all in the first chapter.
“I journaled everyday,” Shepard told a room of 120 people, many under aged ten and part of the Club Esteem program, an organization whose mission is to inspire economically disadvantaged youth towards academic and personal excellence. “I wanted to catch the exact dialogue of the moment and not have to rely on my memory six months later.”
His self-published book was bought out by Harper-Collins and Shepard spends his days speaking to others about what he learned. His website, www.scratchbeginnings.com has additional information, including his book tour schedule, where to purchase Scratch Beginnings, and teaching tools for in depth study of the book.
“We all have issues,” Shepard continued. “We all have adversity. The difference is what we do about it. Here you are in this moment, whether you have $2,500.00 or $25.00. What matters is what are you going to do now?”
Shepard stresses the importance of the journey over the destination as he learned that attaining the American dream had been the least influential parts of his project, playing the smallest role in building his character. He credits a homeless gentleman named Phil Coleman with being the catalyst of his self-discovery, completely altering the outcome of his experience and of his life (but you’ll have to pick up the book to get that jewel!)
Adam Shepard is no different from the rest of us. He started with nothing and turned it into a life’s calling, an opportunity to be a voice for others to see the possibilities of what lies ahead, depending on our own ability to humble ourselves and take direction from those we might otherwise consider of no value. In Shepard’s words, “Success stories are built on the backbone of failures.” The question is: are you willing to find your story?
