I was thinking tonight about how and why I’ve ended up where I am today, and it amazed me how influential one person has been in determining my life.

I recently read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, and in the book he talks about “epidemics”, how ideas and trends are started by relatively small groups of people. He classifies people into a few different groups, and one of those groups is the Connector group. Gladwell talks about a test given where a person is asked to look at a long list of surnames and then count how many of the surnames they know in their personal life. (So if you took the test and saw the surname “Arney” you could check yes since you probably know me - after all you’re reading this.) Connectors score very highly on this test because they know a tremendous amount of people. They thrive on meeting new people, introducing friends to other friends, that sort of thing. Gladwell thinks about this and realizes that most of his friends aren’t really “his” friends after all - they’re friends of his Connector friend, who introduced Gladwell to them.

Shaun Culbreath is the Connector in my life. Let’s just run down the list, off the top of my head:

• I ran cross country in high school, largely on the urging of Shaun.
• I worked at Greenwood Lake Camp entirely because of Shaun. It was something I never would have done if I’d never known him, and I ended up working there for five summers. I made countless friends at GWLC and did a lot of growing up there over the years. I also met my wife at Greenwood, and it’s pretty much a certainty that I never would have met her if Shaun hadn’t convinced me to work at GWLC the summer after our senior year of high school.
• I coached cross country and tennis at our high school alma mater after Shaun recommended me to the Athletic Director there. Again, something that wouldn’t have happened without Shaun’s influence that turned into a great experience.

There are many others, but the three above are the quickest to come to mind. I don’t see Shaun as much as I’d like because he’s in Michigan going to law school (and he’s the hardest working student I’ve ever met - no one else comes close), but when we do get together I’m always reminded of what a positive influence Shaun has been in my life and of what a positive influence he continues to be. After spending a few hours with Shaun I inevitably feel invigorated and more positive about life in general. As I get older I realize how rare it is to find people who can inspire such feelings.

All these good things, despite the fact that he struggles with the handicap of Republicanism. It’s really quite impressive.