During my four years at the Virginia Military Institute, those words looked down on me as I walked in and out of the main arch to the VMI barracks (i.e., VMI’s spartan version of a dormitory) — particularly my first year as a “rat,” when that was the only arch I was permitted to use. That sentence has branded itself on my mind, as it has on many cadets and alumni from the school. As a result, I likely ended up with a predisposition to believing that through hard work, focus and an open mind, I could do almost anything in my life. In many ways, VMI began to form the circle on this subject, which was completed years later after graduation.