[Dick Linn]

This seems like an appropriate place to share this, which was written by Karl Linn, one of the co-founders of our Team 975. Sadly, Karl had to leave VCU engineering school when his Marine Reserve unit was sent to Iraq, and he was killed in action.

Who Am I?
I'm an engineer, an artist, or a U.S. Marine. I'm as comfortable with physics as I am with ballistics or a brush. Whether I'm feeling like the reasoned intellectual, the right brained artist, or the hard-corps Devil Dog, I've been called an enigma, a Renaissance man, or simply "Krazy Karl". I appear to be a nerd most of the time, sensitive and harmless, but around the edges I maintain just enough of the male bravado to take the lead in situations that require it. People can never quite put their finger on the nature of my personality, and the fact of the matter is, neither can I. I honestly don't know who I am, and I'm perfectly content with that, for it leaves me open to new experiences; I can be anyone I want to be, even if only for a day. Yet I always remember that I am flesh and blood like everyone else, so no matter how lonely I sometimes feel, my suffering is no different.

What Do I Want?
In the short-term, I want to establish what is best described as the American Dream. I want to be a success, but not necessarily the type that ends up in magazines. My definition of leading a successful life would leave me with a good job, a nice place to live, a great soulmate, and my own family.
However, I see that as no more than a stepping stone, a checkpoint I must pass before I can begin to pursue what I really want from life: the Truth.

How Do I Propose to Get It?
I suppose I've answered part of that already. Sometimes I feel emotionally lost, but I have to remember that everything I've planned for the recent future, college and military training and every other teaching experience is going to help me get one step closer to wherever I'm going, whether directly or indirectly. For the most part, I just intend to live my life, keeping all options open, and experience everything I possibly can. I really plan on nothing other than achieving some degree of wisdom; how I get that is irrelevant. But once I've lived an ordinary life to the degree I see fit, then I will be ready to pursue my ultimate quest for the Truth.
Karl Linn