Homeless - Harvard to Redemption, my journey.
Donation protected
This is not an easy story, but transparency heals the soul.
I was hesitant in people to know my story, but Capi Lynn with the Statesman Journal made me realize people can benefit from it, and that it would be selfish of me not to share what it takes to pull yourself out of the void. In a way, she made me feel human again and for that, I am very grateful for her to tell my journey and her entire team for helping me find the meaning of who I am and will become. You can view the video and story by Capi here.
I live, eat, sleep, and dream about ways to apply Artificial Intelligence to make life better for humanity. Consequently, Harvard recruited me to join their exclusive Business Analytics Data Program where only 300 people are accepted each year globally. My elation turned to concern as I realized I didn't have the $16k needed to cover tuition the first semester's tuition. You see, I had gone from being a sought-after high-end business consultant to a homeless veteran suffering from epileptic seizures due to brain trauma...my finances took a dive as I struggled through depression, a failed suicide attempt, and a sense of overall hopelessness in the process of piecing my life back together. Fortunately, the medical profession finally diagnosed my condition and after 5-years - and I feel like a new man with hope for life again. I've hit the ground running since then and am currently working on my Ph.D. - Doctorate in Business Administration.
I am generally a very private person, and I don't like sharing my life story because it's gut-wrenching for me to relive these moments of my past, but I realized that maybe I need to think bigger than just my story. That may be in the process of my asking for help to pursue my passion, that one person may regain hope in the value of never giving up and always pursuing their dream.
I hope you'll consider joining my cause and being a part of a way more significant movement where we can reclaim technology for the benefit of enriching the masses and not just the elite. I share my story below...
You can also read more about me, by following me on Facebook where you can be part of this incredible journey I am embarking on.
Being accepted into the Harvard Business Analytics Program, I have to admit, came as a surprise. This program is extremely competitive; it is international and receives hundreds of applications every month, but only a few are selected to attend. My selection, however, validates quite a bit about my journey to get to this point. It has not been easy by any stretch of the imagination. But, that is what it takes if you want to make a difference in the world. It requires a lot of effort, dedication, and a passion for what you truly believe in. The opportunity to join these like minds will provide a meaningful intellectual return on investment for enhancing the roles of technology used by all of us.
What Your Investment Means
Your investment in me ensures that you will have someone in the realm of data analytics and artificial intelligence who will contribute to the greater good of humanity. I have witnessed first hand the disastrous circumstances of how economics, policy, and ideology do not serve the interest of the common people. I am someone who understands how technology will generate the kind of change that amplifies humankind's potential in ways that benefit us all. I would be extremely grateful to you for your contribution, and can only repay you through my commitment, dedication, and passion for contributing to positive world change for future generations to come.
Humble Beginnings
I come from a rather humble background, poor but dignified, respectful, raised by a single mother who taught me some of life's greatest lessons. I grew up in NE Salem, Oregon, its reputation was known as the unpolished part of town, mainly working class. I attended the local schools; however, high school was not in the plan for me as I did not agree with their half-baked truths sold as absolutes. During my sophomore year, I left high-school, and I worked on a fishing boat off the coast of Newport. I used those funds to start my own construction company. I hired a few friends, and we all made a little money.
I wanted more; I wanted to see the places in the Britannica Encyclopedias, and the National Geographic maps that I had taped to my bedroom walls. At 17, I joined the United States Army with the MOS of 11B (Light Infantryman). I was jumping out of helicopters by the time I was 18 and quickly promoted to Sergeant by the time I was 20. I was selected as a soldier of the year, and at 24 years old, I found myself leading a team of soldiers through the bombed out villages of Bosnia Herzegovina. The effects of war on a young man change a person's perspective. I never could quite understand how the few could control the many. It was incomprehensible that people would allow someone else's ideology to create such atrocities.
A Rising Star
I have always been in the top of my class, from being a champion bull-rider to having my photography published on the cover of magazines. I had a fantastic career, from working as a laborer 'digging ditches' while going to night school to earn my Bachelors of Science in computers, to eventually working my way into a managing consultant role, while obtaining my MBA in International Business. I was structuring complex deals and building agile governance models for companies such as Best Buy and Neiman Marcus. I was earning nearly $200,000 a year. I have traveled the world for business, deal to deal, I was a rising star.
The Year My World Crashed
In 2014 everything changed. I started experiencing major depression, my hands and arms became electrified, it is best described as holding a 9-volt battery to your tongue. I could not concentrate, and I started withdrawing myself socially. Depression took over every aspect of my life, and I lost my job and career prospects as a result. Depression was a monster that I was losing the fight against. After seeing several doctors, (many of who were conflicted in establishing a diagnosis and often contradictory to one another) determining I had everything from, PTSD, social anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, complex partial seizures, to even the onset of Multiple Sclerosis. While my firm continued to pay me for an entire year without contribution (because that is what good companies do for good consultants), but the worst was yet to come.
In 2015 I lost my work-sponsored health insurance. My claim for short-term disability was in the works, and I had to secure a pro-bono attorney who was going to take 50% of any claim that was approved. During this time in 2015, I was filing for divorce, my credit cards ran out, and I was entering into the realm of cat and mouse games dodging bill collectors and repo-men. My credit score plunged from 825 to below 600 within months.
Homeless and Broken
I entered into the VA healthcare system and continued on the medication regime. I wandered aimlessly, lost, confused, and broken. It is where I found rock bottom. For the first time, I was sleeping outside on the streets of downtown Denver. I never developed an addiction to drugs or alcohol, but I met several people who used to be somebody that did. For some, the solace in a bottle is a means to an end. I listened to their stories, triumphs, and heartbreaks with the utmost compassion. Our tears and laughs were the only exchange shared for each others time. I became jaded at the system and perplexed that everything we thought society was doing right was actually creating these monocistic (''monocism' I have best defined as the prejudice, discrimination, and antagonism directed at those who are indigent by those who believe they are superior because of their own wealth accumulation). The structure of policies, the skewed allocations of equality, inadequacies with the social justice and representation, and the diminishing middle-class bothered me greatly. I just could not accept the fact that people are treated as commodities, but yet we are the ones allowing this to occur. I often walked the streets, observing behaviors, advertisements, and bathed in the economic foolishness created by our own doing.
The very restaurants I had frequented with my esteemed colleagues months before, the people now watched and judged me through the glass while I dug through the trash cans looking for food on 16th street. It was embarrassing, but it also annihilated any pride, and as a result, I found myself humble and grateful for the experience. Over 2,000 LinkedIn contacts, and no one would communicate with me. I felt ostracized and denounced, I was being rejected due to something beyond my control.
With to much pride to collect food stamps or seek assistance, I managed to support myself through photography jobs mainly on Craigslist, and at 43 years old, I had some unsuccessful attempts at riding broncs again, but the competition was just too young. I became destitute, I reached out to my distant dad to ask for help. But he said it was his new families policy not to lend money to any of his kids, but I do have to say he did a send a check for $300 from my grandmother's account who at the time was experiencing severe dementia along with a few Bible scriptures. Mom was impacted when I lost everything as well, and I could not burden her, she was barely making it herself. Eventually, I was beaten up by a group of individuals and robbed while at the tram station, and realized I needed to leave Denver.
Life Is To Be Lived
In the Spring of 2016, while wondering in the deserts of the Southwest, I tried to take my own life. It was the worse of, the worse. I realized I was no longer fighting for my sanity, but also my existence. This unsuccessful attempt on my life proved that I still had a purpose, and this gave me a new degree of hope. I was not ready to die. In the summer of 2016, I cashed in on my airline miles and jumped a flight to Hawaii. I needed to find myself, I needed a digital detox as I like to say. I landed on the Big Island, also known as the healing island - it was the best decision and one I believe to this day, saved my life. I binned the VA prescribed medications and only focused on making myself better - holistically. I took a simple marketing job with a mortgage company and rented a room. For the next year, I slowly pieced myself back together. While in Hawaii, I realized my purpose in life was much more significant than I believed and finally, after 3-years, I signed the paperwork from the insurance company and swore to secrecy that I would never talk about this disability case to anyone. In return, they sent me a check for $2900. But, that's what insurance companies do, for years you are starved into submission.
The Quest for Technological Disruption
The frontiers of technology are my passion, and Eastern Europe is where the action was. In 2017 I used some of the $2900 to purchase a Russia Federation visa and hopped a flight to St. Petersburg. I found myself in the epicenter of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. I used the rest to start a new company while I studied every aspect of these emerging technologies. I refined my coding skills and developing software programs and became dedicated to understanding how technology and data will change the world in which we live in.
My leadership carried quite a few people on a small investment of roughly $500. Over the next 18 months, the team did moderately well, but at the end of the day, Russia is Russia and business is business. My intuition told me that I needed to leave the country. I left Russia and carried my newly acquired skills and moved to Prague. However, obtaining an EU work visa was a significant challenge, it was expensive, but during the 90-days while I was there, I made everyday count. I was carving extra notches in my belt with a steak knife (oh, the irony), and I was washing clothes in the sink, I didn't care, because that is what it takes, you have to live it to fix it. Robin Williams once said, "an empty wallet, an empty stomach, and a broken heart are the best lessons in life." I could not agree more. Eventually, I could no longer stay legally in the EU, and I found myself back in the States.
Coming Home
I headed home, and luckily for me, I did not have to endure sleeping outside anymore. I was hoping for a different outcome when I showed my face to family and friends, but that's how life is sometimes. There are ups and downs, you cannot control the timing when these moments occur. Although I am always a step away from sleeping outside, people believe in me enough to offer their couches. The simple things in life matter now, things like toothpaste, deodorant, and clean socks; these are the new luxuries, and I am OK with that. The one thing I learned from being homeless, is that a warm place to lay your head is sometimes all that matters. I, however, refuse to let life bully me into submission. When I get pushed to the ground, I kick back twice as hard when I get back up.
I started the job search and enrolled in my Ph.D. program where I currently have a 4.0 GPA.
Towards the end of 2018, I could feel the depression setting back in, and the signs and symptoms from 2014 started to emerge again. I contacted the VA asking for help. Within 30-days I was able to see a neuro specialist who spent quite a bit of time with me. She reviewed my brain scan with another doctor at OHSU in Portland, and they determined that I have been suffering from Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). I had developed a form of epilepsy as a result. I am so thankful to her and the other doctors for this discovery, I am not sure how I could ever repay them, but after nearly five years I finally feel they have identified the right diagnosis.
Life is beautiful and I hope that all veterans don't give up because there are amazing doctors at the VA. It just takes a little time to fix you, that's all.
Today
The job search and interviews are a little slower than expected. I knew that if by chance I was accepted in the Harvard Program, that I was for sure going to be able to come up with the tuition on my own. However, I am still homeless and do not want to pass on this phenomenal opportunity presented before me because of my current situation. I am often told that I am in chapters three and four of the industry, and everyone is just starting to read chapter one. Perhaps I overshot my new skill-sets, so I began aiAquarius, but it's expensive to run a website, but at least I have something out there.
Cashing In On Karma
I need to make a withdrawal on my karma. All those spare tire changes and pulling people out of snowbanks, paying it forward at the coffee shops, and always asking for my leftover food to be put in a box to give to a homeless person. In this, I am asking the world for help, but this is not an investment in me, this is an investment in the future of humanity.
Use of Funds
Term 1: $17,000
Term 2: $16,500
Term 3: $16,500
I am extremely active in seeking possibilities to contribute to an agile organization and continue searching for consulting opportunities.
I feel that the Harvard University Business Analytics Program will provide me with essential fundamentals and the ability to interact with leading industry experts to synthesize real-world issues and turn them into solutions.
My commitment to full transparency, should you request a fees breakdown or are a valid agency requesting verification for this page, please do not hesitate to contact me from a recognized agency name.
We have the greatest opportunity before us, right now, to adjust the course of humanity through technology. We can help people make things right again.
Thank you for considering a donation to my cause and don't forget to subscribe to watch this amazing opportunity and the good things that will emerge from it -Facebook
Sean
I was hesitant in people to know my story, but Capi Lynn with the Statesman Journal made me realize people can benefit from it, and that it would be selfish of me not to share what it takes to pull yourself out of the void. In a way, she made me feel human again and for that, I am very grateful for her to tell my journey and her entire team for helping me find the meaning of who I am and will become. You can view the video and story by Capi here.
I live, eat, sleep, and dream about ways to apply Artificial Intelligence to make life better for humanity. Consequently, Harvard recruited me to join their exclusive Business Analytics Data Program where only 300 people are accepted each year globally. My elation turned to concern as I realized I didn't have the $16k needed to cover tuition the first semester's tuition. You see, I had gone from being a sought-after high-end business consultant to a homeless veteran suffering from epileptic seizures due to brain trauma...my finances took a dive as I struggled through depression, a failed suicide attempt, and a sense of overall hopelessness in the process of piecing my life back together. Fortunately, the medical profession finally diagnosed my condition and after 5-years - and I feel like a new man with hope for life again. I've hit the ground running since then and am currently working on my Ph.D. - Doctorate in Business Administration.
I am generally a very private person, and I don't like sharing my life story because it's gut-wrenching for me to relive these moments of my past, but I realized that maybe I need to think bigger than just my story. That may be in the process of my asking for help to pursue my passion, that one person may regain hope in the value of never giving up and always pursuing their dream.
I hope you'll consider joining my cause and being a part of a way more significant movement where we can reclaim technology for the benefit of enriching the masses and not just the elite. I share my story below...
You can also read more about me, by following me on Facebook where you can be part of this incredible journey I am embarking on.
Being accepted into the Harvard Business Analytics Program, I have to admit, came as a surprise. This program is extremely competitive; it is international and receives hundreds of applications every month, but only a few are selected to attend. My selection, however, validates quite a bit about my journey to get to this point. It has not been easy by any stretch of the imagination. But, that is what it takes if you want to make a difference in the world. It requires a lot of effort, dedication, and a passion for what you truly believe in. The opportunity to join these like minds will provide a meaningful intellectual return on investment for enhancing the roles of technology used by all of us.
What Your Investment Means
Your investment in me ensures that you will have someone in the realm of data analytics and artificial intelligence who will contribute to the greater good of humanity. I have witnessed first hand the disastrous circumstances of how economics, policy, and ideology do not serve the interest of the common people. I am someone who understands how technology will generate the kind of change that amplifies humankind's potential in ways that benefit us all. I would be extremely grateful to you for your contribution, and can only repay you through my commitment, dedication, and passion for contributing to positive world change for future generations to come.
Humble Beginnings
I come from a rather humble background, poor but dignified, respectful, raised by a single mother who taught me some of life's greatest lessons. I grew up in NE Salem, Oregon, its reputation was known as the unpolished part of town, mainly working class. I attended the local schools; however, high school was not in the plan for me as I did not agree with their half-baked truths sold as absolutes. During my sophomore year, I left high-school, and I worked on a fishing boat off the coast of Newport. I used those funds to start my own construction company. I hired a few friends, and we all made a little money.
I wanted more; I wanted to see the places in the Britannica Encyclopedias, and the National Geographic maps that I had taped to my bedroom walls. At 17, I joined the United States Army with the MOS of 11B (Light Infantryman). I was jumping out of helicopters by the time I was 18 and quickly promoted to Sergeant by the time I was 20. I was selected as a soldier of the year, and at 24 years old, I found myself leading a team of soldiers through the bombed out villages of Bosnia Herzegovina. The effects of war on a young man change a person's perspective. I never could quite understand how the few could control the many. It was incomprehensible that people would allow someone else's ideology to create such atrocities.
A Rising Star
I have always been in the top of my class, from being a champion bull-rider to having my photography published on the cover of magazines. I had a fantastic career, from working as a laborer 'digging ditches' while going to night school to earn my Bachelors of Science in computers, to eventually working my way into a managing consultant role, while obtaining my MBA in International Business. I was structuring complex deals and building agile governance models for companies such as Best Buy and Neiman Marcus. I was earning nearly $200,000 a year. I have traveled the world for business, deal to deal, I was a rising star.
The Year My World Crashed
In 2014 everything changed. I started experiencing major depression, my hands and arms became electrified, it is best described as holding a 9-volt battery to your tongue. I could not concentrate, and I started withdrawing myself socially. Depression took over every aspect of my life, and I lost my job and career prospects as a result. Depression was a monster that I was losing the fight against. After seeing several doctors, (many of who were conflicted in establishing a diagnosis and often contradictory to one another) determining I had everything from, PTSD, social anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, complex partial seizures, to even the onset of Multiple Sclerosis. While my firm continued to pay me for an entire year without contribution (because that is what good companies do for good consultants), but the worst was yet to come.
In 2015 I lost my work-sponsored health insurance. My claim for short-term disability was in the works, and I had to secure a pro-bono attorney who was going to take 50% of any claim that was approved. During this time in 2015, I was filing for divorce, my credit cards ran out, and I was entering into the realm of cat and mouse games dodging bill collectors and repo-men. My credit score plunged from 825 to below 600 within months.
Homeless and Broken
I entered into the VA healthcare system and continued on the medication regime. I wandered aimlessly, lost, confused, and broken. It is where I found rock bottom. For the first time, I was sleeping outside on the streets of downtown Denver. I never developed an addiction to drugs or alcohol, but I met several people who used to be somebody that did. For some, the solace in a bottle is a means to an end. I listened to their stories, triumphs, and heartbreaks with the utmost compassion. Our tears and laughs were the only exchange shared for each others time. I became jaded at the system and perplexed that everything we thought society was doing right was actually creating these monocistic (''monocism' I have best defined as the prejudice, discrimination, and antagonism directed at those who are indigent by those who believe they are superior because of their own wealth accumulation). The structure of policies, the skewed allocations of equality, inadequacies with the social justice and representation, and the diminishing middle-class bothered me greatly. I just could not accept the fact that people are treated as commodities, but yet we are the ones allowing this to occur. I often walked the streets, observing behaviors, advertisements, and bathed in the economic foolishness created by our own doing.
The very restaurants I had frequented with my esteemed colleagues months before, the people now watched and judged me through the glass while I dug through the trash cans looking for food on 16th street. It was embarrassing, but it also annihilated any pride, and as a result, I found myself humble and grateful for the experience. Over 2,000 LinkedIn contacts, and no one would communicate with me. I felt ostracized and denounced, I was being rejected due to something beyond my control.
With to much pride to collect food stamps or seek assistance, I managed to support myself through photography jobs mainly on Craigslist, and at 43 years old, I had some unsuccessful attempts at riding broncs again, but the competition was just too young. I became destitute, I reached out to my distant dad to ask for help. But he said it was his new families policy not to lend money to any of his kids, but I do have to say he did a send a check for $300 from my grandmother's account who at the time was experiencing severe dementia along with a few Bible scriptures. Mom was impacted when I lost everything as well, and I could not burden her, she was barely making it herself. Eventually, I was beaten up by a group of individuals and robbed while at the tram station, and realized I needed to leave Denver.
Life Is To Be Lived
In the Spring of 2016, while wondering in the deserts of the Southwest, I tried to take my own life. It was the worse of, the worse. I realized I was no longer fighting for my sanity, but also my existence. This unsuccessful attempt on my life proved that I still had a purpose, and this gave me a new degree of hope. I was not ready to die. In the summer of 2016, I cashed in on my airline miles and jumped a flight to Hawaii. I needed to find myself, I needed a digital detox as I like to say. I landed on the Big Island, also known as the healing island - it was the best decision and one I believe to this day, saved my life. I binned the VA prescribed medications and only focused on making myself better - holistically. I took a simple marketing job with a mortgage company and rented a room. For the next year, I slowly pieced myself back together. While in Hawaii, I realized my purpose in life was much more significant than I believed and finally, after 3-years, I signed the paperwork from the insurance company and swore to secrecy that I would never talk about this disability case to anyone. In return, they sent me a check for $2900. But, that's what insurance companies do, for years you are starved into submission.
The Quest for Technological Disruption
The frontiers of technology are my passion, and Eastern Europe is where the action was. In 2017 I used some of the $2900 to purchase a Russia Federation visa and hopped a flight to St. Petersburg. I found myself in the epicenter of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. I used the rest to start a new company while I studied every aspect of these emerging technologies. I refined my coding skills and developing software programs and became dedicated to understanding how technology and data will change the world in which we live in.
My leadership carried quite a few people on a small investment of roughly $500. Over the next 18 months, the team did moderately well, but at the end of the day, Russia is Russia and business is business. My intuition told me that I needed to leave the country. I left Russia and carried my newly acquired skills and moved to Prague. However, obtaining an EU work visa was a significant challenge, it was expensive, but during the 90-days while I was there, I made everyday count. I was carving extra notches in my belt with a steak knife (oh, the irony), and I was washing clothes in the sink, I didn't care, because that is what it takes, you have to live it to fix it. Robin Williams once said, "an empty wallet, an empty stomach, and a broken heart are the best lessons in life." I could not agree more. Eventually, I could no longer stay legally in the EU, and I found myself back in the States.
Coming Home
I headed home, and luckily for me, I did not have to endure sleeping outside anymore. I was hoping for a different outcome when I showed my face to family and friends, but that's how life is sometimes. There are ups and downs, you cannot control the timing when these moments occur. Although I am always a step away from sleeping outside, people believe in me enough to offer their couches. The simple things in life matter now, things like toothpaste, deodorant, and clean socks; these are the new luxuries, and I am OK with that. The one thing I learned from being homeless, is that a warm place to lay your head is sometimes all that matters. I, however, refuse to let life bully me into submission. When I get pushed to the ground, I kick back twice as hard when I get back up.
I started the job search and enrolled in my Ph.D. program where I currently have a 4.0 GPA.
Towards the end of 2018, I could feel the depression setting back in, and the signs and symptoms from 2014 started to emerge again. I contacted the VA asking for help. Within 30-days I was able to see a neuro specialist who spent quite a bit of time with me. She reviewed my brain scan with another doctor at OHSU in Portland, and they determined that I have been suffering from Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). I had developed a form of epilepsy as a result. I am so thankful to her and the other doctors for this discovery, I am not sure how I could ever repay them, but after nearly five years I finally feel they have identified the right diagnosis.
Life is beautiful and I hope that all veterans don't give up because there are amazing doctors at the VA. It just takes a little time to fix you, that's all.
Today
The job search and interviews are a little slower than expected. I knew that if by chance I was accepted in the Harvard Program, that I was for sure going to be able to come up with the tuition on my own. However, I am still homeless and do not want to pass on this phenomenal opportunity presented before me because of my current situation. I am often told that I am in chapters three and four of the industry, and everyone is just starting to read chapter one. Perhaps I overshot my new skill-sets, so I began aiAquarius, but it's expensive to run a website, but at least I have something out there.
Cashing In On Karma
I need to make a withdrawal on my karma. All those spare tire changes and pulling people out of snowbanks, paying it forward at the coffee shops, and always asking for my leftover food to be put in a box to give to a homeless person. In this, I am asking the world for help, but this is not an investment in me, this is an investment in the future of humanity.
Use of Funds
Term 1: $17,000
Term 2: $16,500
Term 3: $16,500
I am extremely active in seeking possibilities to contribute to an agile organization and continue searching for consulting opportunities.
I feel that the Harvard University Business Analytics Program will provide me with essential fundamentals and the ability to interact with leading industry experts to synthesize real-world issues and turn them into solutions.
My commitment to full transparency, should you request a fees breakdown or are a valid agency requesting verification for this page, please do not hesitate to contact me from a recognized agency name.
We have the greatest opportunity before us, right now, to adjust the course of humanity through technology. We can help people make things right again.
Thank you for considering a donation to my cause and don't forget to subscribe to watch this amazing opportunity and the good things that will emerge from it -Facebook
Sean
Organizer
Sean Halverson
Organizer
Salem, OR
