2021 Archives - Dennis Conrad Author

September 11, 2001 – September 11, 2021

Where were you on the day of the attack on the World Trade Center?
What changed for you the days and weeks that followed?

Here is my answer:
Forty miles outside of Barstow, California, in the Mojave Desert, the phone rang…

– My wife said, “Turn on your TV.”
– I did…

The first tower was on fire. After a quick conversation, we hung up.

Within a few minutes a second plane crashed into the other tower.
I called my wife…

We were both horrified…

Five weeks before the attack, I started working for Barstow College’s satellite campus at Fort Irwin, the National Training Center for the United States Army. Hired to teach public speaking and English to the soldiers and their dependents, I would describe pre-9/11 Fort Irwin as a quiet town. My students took a casual approach to learning. Often, they came to class exhausted after taking part in military training exercises in the summer heat.

Post-9/11

When classes finally resumed, my students were still tired, but they arrived for class early. Many leaned forward during lectures and student speeches. Members of small groups interacted with greater enthusiasm. A sense of urgency filled the air. After 9/11 my students realized they were part of something bigger. America had been attacked, and they were the defenders of freedom.

It didn’t take long for me to realize my responsibility. I became serious about teaching the up-and-coming generation of military leaders. I did my best to help them improve their oral and written communication skills. My students would tell me that something I taught on a given day proved helpful to them in their jobs the next.

At Fort Irwin, everyone’s attitude and demeanor changed after the attacks on the World Trade Center. I am humbled to have taught at the satellite campus until May 2008. I continued teaching for the college at the Barstow campus until June 2017.

What is your story?

Tell me what you think below and please join me every day as we pray for wisdom by taking part in the Wisdom Prayer Challenge.

Labor Day 2021: Ten Motivating Things

What motivates you at work?

As a speech teacher, I would often begin the lesson on persuasion by writing a question on the board: “What motivates people?”

I would encourage students to start shouting out their answers: “pride,” “money,” “fear,” “recognition,” “safety,” “faith,” and so on.

Recently, I was in a writing slump. I was struggling. so I wrote a list of things that keep me motivated to do my best work:

1. My faith in Christ and the Bible;

2. Love of family and friends;

3. Service to others;

4. Discovering and learning new things;

5. Making lists and setting goals. Accomplishing the goals is even more fun;

6. Famous quotations, memes, positive posts, and uplifting stories;

7. Hearing a good sermon or attending an informative seminar or lecture;

8. Listening to my eclectic music playlist that includes Christian, country, rock, classical, and international music;

9. Imagining myself being in the mountains where I can see beautiful panoramas and smell pine trees in the forest; being near the ocean, and hearing the wave’s crash and breathe in the salty, sea air; being in the desert at sunrise and sunset with the vibrant colors, and after dark, far from the city lights, looking up at the spectacular star-filled sky in awe the Creator; and

10. Receiving positive feedback from readers.

Once out of my writing slump, I realized my list was a great source of inspiration.

I encourage you to make your own list of things that motivate you.

Tell me what you think below and please join me every day as we pray for wisdom by taking part in the Wisdom Prayer Challenge.