so much has changed in the past five years for the better. it takes a long time to establish credibility, trust, and mutual respect in any system, to prove oneself capable of beating the odds.

I watched an interview from ~5 months ago that made me feel like everything really was supposed to work out this way. he's proof that there's no such thing as an underdog-to-champion pipeline---it's pure willpower, drive, motivation, hard work, persistence, dedication, patience.

wisdom in action.