Knowledge is Power - Inspirational Story

We recently received this inspirational letter from our friend Ben Straley. We hope that by sharing this you will be inspired to expand your understanding of the craft you've chosen. Knowledge is Power...

Letter from Ben:

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your Ultimate Library.

I'll try to give you the short version of my story...but I can't really hold back from trying to communicate how much this means to me.

I have a very checkered past of being *extremely* irresponsible. I fell into the electrical trade completely by accident, and really didn't like doing it. I was never *by nature* very mechanically inclined. I was extremely artistic...wrote music, poetry. I was more "wine, women and song" while everyone around me was "beer, trucks and tools". Nothing wrong with either one...just two completely different mindsets.

I would practice being an electrician for a while, but I often couldn't hold down a steady job because my attitude showed in my work. I really didn't want to be doing what I was doing, but I kept coming back for the money. I would put in my hours, but instead of learning, I would daydream of being a rock star...or at least owning my own record store. I grew my hair long, I was the lead singer of a heavy metal band, and I lived a very immoral lifestyle.

I originally found my faith when my youngest son was born in late '92, early '93. And I became baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in early '95. I was growing, and I cleaned up my life exponentially...but in many ways I was still young and clinging to irresponsible ways of thinking. I thank God for his patience with me...because it has taken me a slow process of about 10-15 years to really have it dawn on me just how far behind I was.

I was out of the electrical trade for 8 years, and forgot nearly everything I ever knew. But when my wife had to stop working so that we could both take care of her aging mother (who had to move in with us) we went from a dual income to a single income family. I knew that I had to quit my cushy reasonable-paying job, and step up to the plate and be a man. I had to go back to the electrical trade.

But here's the twist. My hours were still on file with the state (enough to get my journeyman's license) but I hadn't practiced in *8 years*!!! But I've always tested really well, so I hit the books for a couple of months and passed my test. But there was a problem. I was a licensed journeyman electrician but I didn't really have a clue what I was doing...I only knew how to look things up. I was really trying to turn things around...but I was ashamed of where my checkered past had gotten me. I had slipped through the system. I technically had the hours, and I was intelligent enough to know where to find things in an open book test, but I had the know how of a first year apprentice.

All this was in '04. So I joined the local union in an attempt to diversify and gain knowledge. Work was very sporadic at first, but I was still only learning what I needed to know to do the job I had that day (which is more than what I had done as a kid). I would get really depressed because I was beginning to feel how far behind I was and I didn't want to be there. I finally found a steady job as a low voltage tech for a big company (they need Journeyman wiremen to bend pipe on big jobs, and the amount of journeymen willing to do low volt work is surprisingly scarce, so it was a good fit). They were training me to run my own crews....when the big crash it. I thought I could just wait it out, so I waited on the union books for *2 years*...then I went back to work for *2 months* only to go back to the end of the line.

I finally decided I'd had enough, and did what I should have done when I was first laid off. I studied for several weeks, got my Washington administrators card, got my business license, and opened my own shop. I opened my doors in Jan 2012. I was making enough to get by...and I had learned *SO MUCH* since coming back to the trade in '04...but I still was hungry for more knowledge. I had gone from being a bad electrician to being a good electrician, but I knew that as *the owner of a company*, "good electrician" was just not going to be enough....I need (and want) to be a *GREAT ELECTRICIAN*.

So when I finished a fairly big job, and had a few bucks in the company account, I made it a priority to purchase your Ultimate Library as an investment for the company. I have sat down *EVERY NIGHT* for the last week pouring over your electrical theory course...and I've learned more about how I can help my customers than I have ever known in my career. In my lifetime, I've gone from *loathing* what I do, to learning to accept it. But what I'm learning from you has brought me *beyond* accepting what I do. I look forward to learning more. I'm *ENJOYING* what I do...BECAUSE I KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT I'M DOING. It's fascinating learning about all the ways these things work, and I especially love that you give credit to Almighty God for putting these things here for us to be able to try to understand and utilize.

I am sitting down *every night* this week going through Understanding the NEC...and I can't wait to get to Grounding and Bonding. I feel a bit embarrassed and ashamed because I started so far behind...sort of like the guy who waits until *after* he has a baby before he starts trying to figure out how to be a father. But at the same time, I would rather be growing now, than using my lack of knowledge as an excuse not to try.

In '04 I was a journeyman who knew *absolutely nothing*, by the time the crash hit Washington in '09 I had caught up to "adequate"... But you have made me more confident just walking out my door every day. I no longer dread what might happen, because I understand more about what to do and why things happen the way they do.

With this library, I honestly feel that I am going to have the education and knowledge that I should have had long ago. I am reminded of a phrase from a psalm..."More insight than all my teachers I have come to have, because your reminders are a concern to me." (Psalms 119:99)

Thanks to you, I feel like I have hit the ground running, and not only am I going to "catch up" to where I should be...but I am going to be more educated than most of the shops on the market. I've gone through the motions of learning how to do the work for 15 years....but now, thanks to you, everything that I'm doing is making much more sense. All the stars are aligning, and I'm getting my ducks in a row for the first time.

I thank Almighty God for his patience, and I'm very thankful that he never gave up on me. He helped me to slowly grow over the last couple of decades. But I do believe that in some ways, being able to get this knowledge was an answer to a prayer. He wants me to do well, and he had been guiding me to a point where I could really digest it fully.

THANK YOU, MIKE!! Thank you for making this library available so that I can be the best electrician and shop owner I can be. Now, I not only just care about my customers...but I have the knowledge of HOW I can take care of them. It's given me the tools to adequately express my concerns so that I can help them...no matter what the situation may be. In short, you have enriched my life.

I honestly hope that we can face to face someday...I would love to buy you lunch sometime.

Sincerely, Ben S.