Brendan Kosteroski's 'Coming Of Age'

Coming of Age
Brendan Kosteroski is an excelling high school dropout who is trying to make a word for himself. He then got a GED not just because he needed to, but because he wanted to. He wanted to become what he loved. So when I asked him what he majored in he said that “Philosophy is what I’ve always loved, so that's what I did. But something has to bring in the bank; So for the rest of the years I tried to becoming a teacher.”He told me about how he always hated school, and he emphasized “hate”. Brendan never was an outstanding student. Although he was a smart kid, he never felt like doing the work. He said while going through college, that was the toughest adjustment.
Brendan chose philosophy because he wants to become a philosophy professor.

When he first began to attend Joliet Junior College he started to major in education. And took only one philosophy class. But that teacher really shaped his mind. Brendan told me that the teacher “Opened doors for me.”. So he switched majors to Philosophy because he knew that he wanted to be like that teacher, That teacher was Mr. Dano, and that teacher played a vital part in Brendan's College experience. Mr. Dano would provide him with great advice on becoming a teacher. When I asked how come he chose JJC he said “ Well money was tight, and It’s not like I’m missing out on anything. I know wherever I go, I won't want to be there. So might as well not want to be there with friends and family.” Brendan did not have a car so living close to college played an important role. Every morning he had to board the bus and ride off. He called it “The two and a half hour ride of misery and sleep.” This is where he got his last minute cramming for tests and read many books that he says made the biggest changes in his college career.
Of many books he was most moved by a novel called “Man’s Searching for Meaning”. He told me that this book is about a man sent to a concentration camp. Even though only bad is happening around him, he tries to find the good. He said he reminded him about college. College for him was him searching his meaning. He knew that there was going to be classes dropping worthy, but he worked through them and that what made his college experience so memorable.”The experience is what you take out of it” he says.
Roaching through college was an uprising and revealing time in Brendan’s life. He Learned to make the best out of everything to in order to enjoy the life he has, and make it the life he wants. He worked hard to earn his education degree to do what he he wanted to change in the world. He did all of that just doing what he loved.