Quotation Blog Four

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

 

"His father had told him many times that book learning was not the secret of running a successful business," (King 66).

 

This quote comes from Hal Griffen, the son of a successful business man. He works for his father in their dairy farming business. He also has a younger brother who is fourteen and feels similar to him which is ironic because my brother is fourteen and relates to me. Griffen finds school very mundane and enjoys working with is father. He feels like an outcast at school and considers it a waste of time and energy. His father does encourage him to get his high school diploma, but knows that is not the key to success. 

 

I chose this quote because I can relate to it. I have never enjoyed school in the thirteen years I have been going. The character, Hal Griffen is eighteen years old just like me. I share some of his feelings toward school and life. I always envy people who do enjoy school and wonder why they do. It is stressful, and often times boring for me. I have trouble paying attention to lecture and participating in class discussions due to anxiety, focus issues and sometimes a lack of interest. There are certain subjects I do well in and enjoy more than others, such as hands on and independent learning. A consistent struggle of mine is motivation. I have tried to get to the root of my motivation problem, and have come up with a few reasons. For years I concluded that laziness and lack of passion was my issue, but I finally realized that is not the case. I love to work, I have worked in waitressing and in the demolition field. I enjoy hands on work and have a lot of passion in my life for animals, law, writing and art. A lot of people who do not succeed in school feel like they are incompetent and will fail in their future endeavors, and that is unfair. Every person is unique in the path that they are going to take. I am not against or above education, but I do not believe that one needs to go to college for extensive years to make a decent living. Many people who do not feel education is needed still go to college because it may believe they will fail in life if they do not. There are many ways to be successful, as long as one has the will to do so.

 

My dad is a very intelligent man, but more importantly the hardest worker I have ever known. While he values education and pushes me and my brothers to succeed in school, he made a career off of his passion and work ethic. He hated school because he had a lot of trouble with boredom and sitting still. Everyday after school and through the weekend, he worked jobs with heavy physical labor because he found it as a outlet and something he excelled in. My parents dated briefly in high school and met again after graduation. He was introduced to the demolition business through my maternal grandfather and his father. With ridiculously long hours, horrible  conditions, demolition is one of the most dangerous, physical jobs there is. From starting as a laborer, he branched off years later into developing his own business. He is now the sole owner one of the largest demolition businesses in New England. He continues to work on job sites almost everyday of his life and does office work as well. Along with my dad, my younger brother, Jake, is fourteen and struggles with severe dyslexia. This dyslexia was likely inherited by my maternal grandfather who was also in the business. School is horrible for him and counts the days until his graduation. Taking after our dad, he works with him and does other odd jobs as much as he can. He wakes up at four or five o'clock in the mornings on the weekends just to go work with him. He plans to follow in our dad's foot steps because demolition work has been his passion since he was young. He very mature and smart and will go on to do great things. He and my father are living proof that school does not define your smarts, abilities or chance at success.