Whew...what a whirl wind the last week has been! This week was probably my best week at Acton. Even though I know I have so much more to learn, I see myself taking some baby steps toward truly "learning how to learn".

This weekend I took my first, and more than likely, only break. I took a quick flight up to Norman to go see my Horned Frogs play the Sooners. It was actually kind of nice because I got a lot of school work done on the road. Don't kid yourself- I spent most of the weekend studying. Being in the airport and plane for about 8 hours on Friday, studying all morning on Saturday from 8am to 1pm, and studying all day today allowed me to get my work in, but I am exhausted. By the way, THANK YOU to the Banks Family for putting me up for the weekend. Your company was a blessing and your family is an inspiration to me! For those of you who don't know- the Banks Family lives in Oklahoma City and was one of a few wonderful families that went on our mission trip to Zambia this summer. Unfortunately, my Frogs lost...it was pretty upsetting, but the joy of it all was that I got to hang out with Michael Anne and Austin. We had a blast just catching up and rooting for the Horned Frogs (even though the Frogs played as bad as we possibly could). Not seeing my family for over a month really hit me on Saturday- I reminded for the first time in weeks of how blessed I am for having such a great family. In fact, after the game I had to walk by myself back to the Banks' car. Although we had lost, I found myself overly joyful for all the gifts the Lord has bestowed upon me. My cup overflows, and this reminds me that "to much who is given, much is expected."

Lastly, I wanted to share one quick "Acton" moment with you. Two weekends ago I had the privilege to be coached by our amazing master teacher, Steven Tomlinson. Steven is a phenomenal and very sought after communications coach, and I got to spend four hours with him and other classmates working on our communication effectiveness. Thanks first to Steven for taking time out- what I learned was invaluable.

One communication exercise prompt was this: if you had 30 seconds to share with the world one thing, what would it be? Here's what I said.

"Have you ever wondered why sunsets are so beautiful? Have you ever wondered how a baby, upon being born, can instantly change the way it breaths? Have you ever wondered why we all have a conscience that tells us the difference between right and wrong? The one true God, who created you and me, longs desperately to have a relationship with you. My question is- will you let Him create something beautiful in you today?"


ps- oh, and bye the way... don't give up hope, the Frogs can still make the BCS with a win over Utah and BYU!

I Know So Little

Week two is in the books, and I can definitely say that 95% of my time is now devoted to school. Some really neat things have happened, and I thought I'd share a few of those "ah ha" moments with everyone.
Last week in our Entrepreneurial Journey class I was asked by master teach Jack Long to open up the case. Basically what this means is that I get to be the business owner in the case we're studying and I get to make a pending decision based upon several pages of notes. As soon as you get done, your classmates start firing from all directions to challenge or support your answer. Tonight I got to review my opening via our new online video system, which, by the way, is amazing. Standing still and being more concise were just a couple of things that I witnessed that I definitely need to work on. I told Dad that I felt like I was getting back up for an opening in Mock Trial. It was fun, and I certainly learned a lot about being prepared. On a lighter note, there was a point in the class that was pretty hilarious (this may not be that funny because you were not there). Jack asked me if my name was R"ee"s or R"i"s; the business owner in this case had a unique last name. So I replied, "It's R"ee"s." Jack said, "Well how do you know it's R"ee"s?" Already in character mode, I replied, "Because I'm Bob R"ee"s." This is when everyone in the class cracked up laughing. I particularly like Jack's class because each day he gets someone to yell "Good morning!" to kind of liven up the class. So far we've yelled good morning in about three different languages. I think I may volunteer next time and say it in Ynanja (one of many Zambian languages). It's "Mui Bwanji" I believe. I need to double check.

Okay, enough about class- I wanted to update everyone on what else is going on (although not much else is going on because of my commitment to Acton). Labor day weekend my roomate Tully was nice enough to take my buddy Scott and me out on Lake Austin; for the first time I learned how to surf behind a boat...it really made me want to hop on flight back to Maui. I have had a little time available to watch the Frogs play. I watched the game at a sports bar/restaurant called The Tavern since I dont' have Direct TV. TCU won 31-14 this week over Stanford, and (by the way) the Mountain West Conference was 4-0 against the Pac 10...I was pretty proud fo this feat. I'll stop here on the football note. Oh yeah- some of my buddies from school and I have been attending Hillcountry Bible Church-UT, which is right on the UT campus. I feel really "at home" at HBC- it has definitely been a great way to recharge spiritually before the week gets going.

One last thing, I did want to touch on a class we have called "Life of Meaning". Although what goes on in this class is confidential between classmates, I did want to share my experience. One of the things asked of us in LOM is to figure out our ethical framwork. What guiding truth do we use in our life that serves as our compass? Let me just say that it is refreshing to know that absolute truths exists. Your conscious, a sunset, or a waterful are all hints of how marvelous our Creator is. Likewise, I consider myself underservingly blessed to have been shown grace and truth. The challenge for me now is to live that out more courageously each day. Today we actually talked about honesty and how that is lived out in our personal and business lives. This topic hinted more and more to integrity, which reminded me of a saying my grandmother, Mimi, used to say. She'd say, "Remember that your reputation is like a piece of paper...once it's folded, there's always a crease."

I hope everyone is doing well. Have a truly blessed week and keep in touch! Go Frogs...beat the Ponies!

Sincerely,

Travis

"A good name is more desirable than great riches..." Proverbs 22:1

First Week of Acton in the Books!

Hello from the ATX! Well, the first week of class was nothing short of amazing! About the only downside to this week is that I didn't get much sleep (4 hours on Tuesday and 3 hours on Wednesday night). The most amazing thing about our classes are just being able to learn from some incredibly successful entrepreneurs (in all walks of life, not just business). The classes are set up to where we do 10 cases per week (a case is real business situation that happened in the past; the goal is to study the information and make a decision as the business owner.) This week we did TiVo, a Lemonade Stand, and Dr. John's Spinbrush (this was my favorite). John Osher, who invented the spinbrush, is one of the most intriguing entrepreneurial stories I've ever seen. You can probable google "John Osher" and "Spinbrush" and see all the successful businesses this guy has started. He always started with finding an "intense need" and then going out and finding a way to satisfy that need.

Other news- I got my Zambia 2008 Apple picture book in today- it was awesome. I really just made a picture album and tell the story about my mission trip this summer. I hope you get a chance to see it. I also found out that Camp Life won't be opening up any new spots next summer....so I'm hoping to sign up again soon- I really feel led to go back and be with my same kids. I'm trying to get Mom and Austin to come with me- Zambia truly changed my life and I know it will theirs if they get to go. I'm working on a dvd right now from this summer and hopefully I'll have it done by Christmas to show everyone back home.

Well, tomorrow I will be missing the TCU game, which is a bummer for me. All of you who do make it please yell a little louder....I'll be there in spirit! Also, please pray for the following people when you get a chance:

Bret and Kelly Guetz- that the Lord will help Bret finish the Nationwide Tour strong
Mike Janszen and the Janszen family- that God will continue to heal Mike from his esophageal cancer operation
My Acton Classmates

Thank y'all for all of your support; I'll try and keep you updated as often as possible. Again, I apologize if I haven't called you back or answered my phone- this program is so intense...but so good. Have a blessed weekend!

Love,

Travis

Philippians 2:5