Perseverance

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”

We all know what perseverance means:

“Continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.”

And yeah, we’ve all lived it.
Falling. Getting up. Failing again. Getting up again. Rinse and repeat until you land somewhere worth staying.

But the story I want to share today?
It’s not about me.
It’s about someone I’ve come to know over the past few months—someone who defines perseverance in ways that put my own story into perspective.

🎓 A Chance Conversation

By day, I’m a director of loyalty engineering.
By night, I teach one or two evening classes each semester at a local community college.

For a couple years now, I’ve seen the same custodian on campus during my teaching nights. It started with a friendly hello. But this semester, we started talking.

Almost every class night, we’d chat for 30 minutes before I taught.
That adds up. Roughly 8 hours of conversation over a semester.
We started with video games.
Eventually, we talked about life.

Turns out—he’s not just a custodian. He’s also a student in the school’s graphic design program. And he’s about to graduate.

❓“Is This Real?”

That’s the question he asked me, again and again.
Not in a joking way. In a “please tell me this isn’t a fantasy” kind of way.

“Is it real? Can someone like me get a degree and get a job?”

I told him yes—because I’ve done it.
But I also told him not everyone takes the same path.
Some people don’t need a degree. I did.
Some people get there quickly. I didn’t.

I told him the first job might not be glamorous. It might be boring. It might feel like a step sideways. But it’s a door. And once you’re in, you get more doors.

🥛 From Milk Crates to Software Engineering

At some point, I told him my story.

That I worked at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and 7-Eleven.
That I was a milkman.
That I got injured.
That I had two back surgeries.
That I was on Social Security disability.
That I went back to school later in life.
That I started over. That I fought like hell.

I saw his eyes light up. Because he realized I didn’t go from a fancy college to a fancy job.
I crawled. I stumbled. I persevered.

🏨 His Story Hits Harder

This student—my friend—grew up in a rough neighborhood.
He lived with a family member surrounded by dangerous people. So he left. Had nowhere to go.

He lived on campus.
No, not in a dorm.
On a bench.

Eventually, he got the custodial job.
Now he lives in a motel. After paying for his room, he has $30 left over. He walks to class. Walks to work. Walks back. Every. Single. Day.

And despite all that?
He’s finishing his degree.
He shows up. He works hard. He cares.
He keeps standing up.

🧠 “Do Things Get Easier?”

He asked me that one night.
I told him:

“Yes. Things can get easier. But never stop fighting.”

Don’t get complacent.
Keep learning.
Keep growing.
Companies want hard workers with the right mindset—not just talent.

The brilliant-but-lazy grad gets passed by the decent-but-determined one.
Every time.

🤝 What’s Next

I gave him my email.
Told him to keep in touch.
Told him to build a portfolio, get on LinkedIn, find me there.

He asked if someone like him could really go from custodian to graphic designer.
I told him, “You’re already doing it.”

And now?
I’ll do what I can. I’ll share his story. I’ll boost his signal.
Maybe someone out there reading this has an entry-level design job.
Maybe someone out there remembers what it felt like to wonder if it was real.

It is.

He’s proof.

🥊 Final Thought

We all get knocked down.
We all fail.
We all doubt.

But perseverance isn’t about being fearless. It’s about getting back up, even when you’re scared.
Even when it’s hard.
Even when you don’t know if it’ll work.

He keeps getting up.
So should we.

✊ mullins.io
Real stories. Real struggle. Real growth.