About Ray:
Updated 8 September 2010:
In the very early 1990's, Ray "accidentally" fell into the opportunity to begin his career as a self employed videographer.
Being self employed, and working in litigation support during this time period was rewarding on many levels. Equipment and technology had been evolving rapidly, and the field was growing.
Being self employed suited Ray quite well, and he continued to increase his professional development in litigation support as well as video production, editing, presentation, and the technologies involved with each.
Completing his Associate Degree in 1986 (specializing in psychology), Ray attempted to get back into school several times, having to drop out of traditional programs due to video production schedules.
In 1999, Ray and a partner opened up VDO1 Productions to have better control over their business, and in 2001, Ray went back to school via distance education at Florida State University.
On January 1st, 2002, Ray bought out his partner and continued to focus on his personal, professional and technological development, completing his Bachelors Degree in 2003, totally online, having been on campus at FSU only twice - to have a picture placed on his student ID (while passing through Tallahassee to teach a program in Pensacola), and for graduation.
Since beginning his studies at FSU in 2001, Ray has taken a plethora of educational and professional development courses, from FEMA courses to independent research into continued educational opportunities.
Ray has established, and is working on, a variety of websites. His goal is to continue increasing his own professional development as well as influencing others to do the same.
Ray truly believes that learning, personal and professional development, continues throughout our entire lives. His goal is to be an example of what he preaches. It is his goal to take many of the lessons that he has learned from working as a volunteer, along with his own personal educational experiences to develop a program to assist individuals to take personal ownership of their career goals and direction.
As of March, 2010, Ray is back in school, working on a Master's Degree in Professional Development. This program directly relates to the various projects that Ray has been working on over the past three years, preaching by example! At the end of February, 2011, Ray will complete the Master's Program and will continue to work towards inspiring others to do the same.
In 2009, Ray took the LSAT exam cold. He scored above his average on six practice exams (using them just to ensure that he could complete each section, he did not check to see why he got right answers right, or wrong answers wrong, he just scored the practice exams and moved along). The score, however was not stellar.
Even with his lowly LSAT score, Ray has been accepted into four Law Schools, with more still on the line. While it is not likely that Ray will actually attend law school (due to his age now mostly), it was refreshing to discover that he could indeed take the exam cold and still be afforded admission.
As an update to this, Ray had been accepted into five main stream ABA accredited law schools.
As stated previously, Ray is a huge fan of distance education and learning opportunities. Currently, the American Bar Association does not accredit ANY distance education programs that lead to the Juris Doctorate (JD) degree - which is what most State Bar Associations require to admit an attorney to the State Bar. California is different in many respects, and approval of non ABA schools and programs is a positive way in which California allows potential students to obtain the privilege to take the California Bar Examination and enter the field as an attorney.
Ray would not be seeking to move to California and practice law any time in the foreseeable future, and at his current age, practicing law anywhere, building up a practice and working to earn that return on investment is rather unlikely, but a solid legal education would prove to be valuable for personal reasons.
Education Update: 10 March 2011:
Ray has completed his Master's Degree in Professional Development from Amberton University outside of Dallas, Texas. In the process of accomplishing his Master's Degree, Ray completed three Graduate Certifications, Executive Leadership, Change Management and Conflict Management and Resolution.
Updated 20 March 2012:
Ray has successfully completed the first year of law school.
He often answers emails with his personal goals, "Best wishes for much success, always!", it is much more than a tag line, it is everything that Ray Hayden is all about.
