ABOUT OUR FOUNDER

ROB ACKER, MA

ULTIMATE Academy Article / Interview with Rob Acker

Excerpt from - Editors, Education Dynamics, “Educational Organization Founder Reflects on His Journey after Three Unbelievable Years," (Denver, CO: ULTIMATE Academy Press, 2020), Vol. 2, Issue 2, Q2, July / Summer Edition, Originally Posted Online via “Publications”: July 1, 2020, 12:06 PM

Rob Acker laid the groundwork for the foundation of ULTIMATE Academy in 2016 following his return from two years spent living and teaching in Sichuan, China as both a visiting professor for a university, as well as an international teacher trainer and educational consultant. The last few years served as an especially challenging time for him, as he had lost his father in April of 2013, his border collie of 17+ years in 2014, and his mother in May of 2015, in all three cases witnessing their final moments unto death.

The emotional and spiritual impact was immense, as in 2017, his final remaining grandparent also passed. Within five years he had lost everyone in his immediate family including pets to death, with the sole exception being his younger brother, who nearly died himself from severe pancreatitis in 2016.

Having witnessed many things in life resultantly convincing him of the impermanent nature of life and existence, Acker ultimately pursued a course of life dedicated to pursuit of meaning and philosophy. From childhood he became fascinated with studying history. Realizing the inevitably of death, his pursuit of historical inquiry often centered upon how people went down in history and were remembered. After much internal deliberation, he decided his fear of death arose out of a fear of being forgotten, of having lived an unremarkable life, and having contributed little in terms of changing the world. It took still many more years and many more deaths and sufferings witnessed before the vision began to take shape on subsequent returns to and from China. By at least as early as 2016 he had a rough enough outline of how that dream and vision should take shape, and enough courage to pursue the goal knowing full well extremely difficult challenges lay ahead.

Nonetheless, he now knew what he had to do with the remainder of his life. His mission and purpose in life was “diamond” clear. ULTIMATE Academy will be the agency and vehicle changing the world for the betterment of all. It shall serve as the force by which we establish the continuous creation of lasting value in people’s lives via educational empowerment.

In the many years since, Acker has managed to pursue a range of experiences and activities, including such endeavors as recording and performing music, a quest of climbing all the 14ers in Colorado, both official and unofficial (as of this writing he has less than 10 of the 59 total remaining to complete), publishing articles, magazines, and even books; and a host of other spiritually uplifting interests that sustains his humanity, energy, spirit, and convictions. Conferences as well as other community events, and training new teachers and offering education consultancy services also occupies his time, but in all honesty says he always does his utmost to schedule quality time with his wife and two dogs, as well as time for himself just to keep up good mental health.

At the moment, when asked what he is most proud of accomplishing thus far in his lifetime, Acker replied, “The successes of my students, and the pride I take in knowing I had contributed to helping them become outstanding members of their societies, and to have confidence in themselves and the future they are actively seeking to build.” Rob’s students have more often than not ended up with promising and noteworthy accomplishments themselves, often coming from humble backgrounds and ending up at top tier institutions throughout the world. His students at Sichuan University of Arts and Science (四川文理学院)’s class of 2018 shattered the previously held school record for number of students accepted to graduate schools, many often going to such noteworthy graduate schools such as Glasgow University in Scotland, or Temple University in Philadelphia, in addition to numerous other prestigious universities throughout both Sichuan and the whole of China. He replicated his success in China with students in America as well, as in one instance a student of his from Denver Public Schools (John F. Kennedy High School) recently went on to be accepted to study at Columbia University.

“Some day soon, hopefully,” he laughs, “ULTIMATE Academy will have it’s own physical campus, but until then, we intend to keep this thing going and growing. At this point, I don’t think I see any way I could ever stop. I’m one of the few people with the luxury of having found out fairly early in life what I really wanted to do and what my real life’s mission and vision should be. Now it’s just a matter of manifesting and materializing it. It’s tough work, but it’s simultaneously the most rewarding and meaningful thing I can do with my limited time on this Earth. My biggest worry these days isn’t really even coping with death. It’s actually finding a way to pace myself healthily so that I can accomplish all I want to accomplish with my life before I die. When I was a teenager, the hardest thing to overcome about death at one point was the apparent meaninglessness of life. Back then I thought long and hard about whether anything I did in life actually mattered since no matter what I do, I’ll end up dying anyway. So what’s the point of living if I lose everything in the end? Luckily, I never went through with suicide, but there were times I came close, and the biggest thing that sustained me was the optimism, positivity, warmth, and light that emanated from things like happiness friendship, music, art, food, drink, love, literature, and so much more. Life is so beautiful we often take for granted just how wonderful it is, and just having that appreciation for life always results in a measure of invaluable happiness for me,” he concluded recently.

“The way to happiness lies in living a good life, and dedicating oneself toward obtaining a better future for oneself and others. Each of us has a profound work and mission that only we can comprehend, accomplish, and manifest. The first part of life is figuring out the purpose for why you exist, who you really are and want to be, and what you want to spend your life doing. The next part is figuring out what you love doing so much so that no matter what you put into it, it always gives back more. And the last part is figuring out how to do the thing you love for the rest of your life to accomplish your vision while handling all other necessary responsibilities so that nothing is neglected or suffers detrimentally from the dedication to one’s life mission, and doing this by achieving a healthy balance between responsibilities to others and desires for oneself,” he takes a deep pause after saying it all almost like a philosopher teaching his students in a lecture hall. “One motto I’ve used that’s often helped me,” he declares, “is, ‘do your work & then carry on with your business’.”

He recollects himself and opines with a certain finality: “Most people try to escape death, but in the end, no one can escape death. They seek escape from death because they fear losing their life in wastefulness. But ignoring death does not bestow fearlessness any more than ignoring present dangers begets bravery, as it is only by living a good life, dedicating one’s life to a great vision and goal, that one can at the end of life declare fearlessness before death. For such a person has spent their life in such a way they did not waste it, but rather got as much out of it as they possibly could. Knowing they spent their life in the best way possible, not squandering or wasting it, but realizing its true brilliance and potential, only in this way can one be fearless in the face of death. Living such a memorable life helps ensure oneself and one’s work are never forgotten, and this is the only true way to escape from the clutches of death’s oblivion and obscurity.”

We at ULTIMATE Academy can’t wait to the see the vision take shape fully, and hope Rob has many more years of brilliant education and incredible life experiences ahead of him.