THPL is Alive!

I am back from my three day Penn Foster, Choose to be More Bike Tour. I am hopeful that you have read some of the highlights from the event or have seen our pictures on Facebook and Instagram. The highlights of the Tour range, as you might expect from the fun and challenge of riding 276 miles in three days, to the remarkable stories from our students to the camaraderie and team work required to pull together an event like this one. It is an honor and a privilege to get on a bike and to travel around Florida to meet students and as I experienced in the fall, when we did the first Bike Tour, the one theme that keeps coming through is that THPL live is alive and thriving. I state this for three reasons:

Seemingly ordinary people are doing remarkable things – they have two jobs, minimal income, and limited free time and they have chosen to take some of their hard earned dollars and their precious free time and they are studying to improve their life and to get a better job. They make this very challenging decision sound like a no brainer – “it is what you are supposed to do” stated one of our students.
We met over 50 high school kids studying using an online self-directed study approach. And to a person they all had developed plans, schedules and approaches to ensure that they stayed on track with their studies. Their goal and achievement orientation was off the charts. They wanted to complete the program and they made sure that they would drive to completion and to make it happen.
Our riders and support crew once again made the impossible….possible. They dreamed this schedule up, planed it, practiced it and delivered it. The team worked together as if they had done this for 20+ years and they started working together a few short months ago. And even the new riders showed that riding a double century over three days is achievable if you stay focused on the goal, always remembering that pain is temporary and quitting lasts forever.

And as I re-enter my more traditional day to day life I am convinced more than ever that THPL is accessible to all people. I felt it, heard it and saw it in action. If this group can live THPL then anyone can. I promise you that the students we met will be my inspiration for a long time to come and I hope that you can find the same spirit and use it in your journey towards THPL.

Loving life, 276 times more today…

Ciao

Joe