We read about prophets in religious scriptures, seemingly guided to speak words from a higher power. Who are these kinds of people? What makes them think God can talk to them? Though I have read several prophetic writings, I have never found a story of the development of a prophet. A contributing reason for this may be the fact that most prophets are false and don't have much to back up their claim of identity.  
So I decided to come forward and share my own story.    

Thank you for joining me on my journey from aspiring to be perfect to aspiring to be real.   

In this chapter, I share some experiences from graduate school that further developed my mindset and my faith in God. I tell of my awakening to textual criticism of the Bible, and the consequential search for God and for myself.