'Roadtrip Nation' visits Ellison High Posted On: Tuesday, Nov. 10 2009 05:08 AM By Rebecca LaFlure
Killeen Daily Herald

In 2001, four friends, out of college and unsure about their career paths, hopped in a beat-up, green RV and took a nearly four-month trip around the country to discover their passions in life.

The friends interviewed professionals, from a celebrity stylist in California to a lobsterman off the coast of Maine, to find out how they came to do what they love.

"Hearing how these people figured it out, helped us better understand how we could," said Mike Marriner, who went on the journey eight years ago.

Marriner shared his Roadtrip experiences with more than 400 Killeen Independent School District students in the Ellison High School auditorium Monday. The idea has since been turned into a PBS series called "Roadtrip Nation" where young adults travel the country asking successful people from all backgrounds to tell their stories.

"It's about you guys defining your Roadtrip in life," he said.

Christina Harris, the AVID coordinator at Killeen High School, said she plans to ask her students to conduct their own interviews with people who are passionate about their careers.

"It will be much more real for the students when they get to find someone who's in a field that they're interested in and ask them what's it like and how they got there," Harris said. "I think this will help them realize or at least figure out where to start looking."

During the presentation, two members of the "Roadtrip Nation" team conducted a mock interview with retired Col. Greg Schannep, the regional director for U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, and former III Corps chaplain. Schannep, orphaned at 14, turned to drugs and alcohol until he decided to change his life at 24.

"I think it (success) has to do with what we learn along the way," he said. "Sometimes, we don't meet those goals right away, but you have to be driven."

Banielle Sullivan, a junior at Killeen High School who attended Monday's presentation, said she plans to attend a four-year university after high school and eventually earn a master's degree in social work. She wants to interview a local social worker about his or her path to success, she said.

"I have to be able to set my own bar," Sullivan said. "I learned you can come from any type of background, and you can start over no matter how late it is."

Contact Rebecca LaFlure at rlaflure@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7548.