When you grow up in a family full of professors and engineers there is a certain constant pressure to achieve, achieve, achieve. One would think that this pressure would be an unpleasant reminder of all of the so-called standards that I must live up to, but I feel quite the contrary. I am very honored by my family's unrelenting encouragement and I look up to them every day. However, one member of my family has made the biggest impact of all; my grandfather. William Harris Durand was the first to show me that education is everything. He cultivated my love for learning by telling me stories of his school days during the depression, teaching me perfect penmanship, and supplying me with innumerable books and art supplies. Without all of his loving, teacher-like qualities, learning would have just been another non-appreciated aspect of my day.
I would have to say that my grandfather's storytelling capabilities were at the forefront of harvesting my interest in education. One of my favorite stories was about how he used to draw cartoon movie reels about cowboys and Indians for his history class projects. This story is my favorite because it sparked my interest in being creative. The day after I heard this story for the first time I found his colored pencils, markers, and some paper in my desk; I've been drawing ever since. Without this subtle encouragement I would never have thought I could be getting college credit by enrolling in an A.P. Art class.
Another of my grandfather's most memorable qualities was his attention to detail. If you ever looked at any of his architectural drawings you would see the immense amount of time he put into every single one of his projects. He encouraged me to build this habit from an early age. When I would get frustrated during my piano lessons with my grandma he would always tell me to keep going and listen to my grandma's instructions. He would say, "now Katie, if you want to learn something you've got to learn it right." and after some complaining on my part I would force myself to try again. I will always remember him saying these little things to me whenever I felt like giving up. I have learned since then from reading his autobiography that he must have inherited this quality from his mother. He fondly reminisces over all of the activities he became involved in due to his mother's little encouragements. Its mind-boggling to think how those little comments can make such a long-lasting impact.
I also have gained a vast knowledge of fairness from my grandfather. People don't always think to put fairness and learning in the same sentence, but I have discovered that they go hand in hand. Everyone has been tempted to cheat on a test or to copy someone else's homework at some time or other, but we all learn the same lesson; cheaters never prosper. Since I was too young to comprehend the language of politics and taxes in his daily lunchtime discussions with my father and grandmother, fairness was the only topic I could ever pick out. I learned that not only do you have to be fair to others, but that you must also be fair to yourself. His ideals of fairness have prompted me to create my own success and throughout my entire school career I am proud to say that all of my work has been my own. Every year of straight A's I earned
has come from teaching others, and in turn, letting them teach me.
In college I hope to apply all of the things my grandfather taught me so that I can continue my success. Now that I know how difficult college classes are and how much time it takes to get assignments done it will be more important than ever to pay attention to the details and to never give up. Even though my grandfather is gone I know that the impacts he made on me will always affect my life. My memories of him fuel my desire to learn something new every single day, and I hope that someday I can inspire my own children and grandchildren to do the same. In the words of Isaac Newton, I am truly "standing on the shoulders of Giants."
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