So I was doing some “Spring Cleaning” of my computer and came across a folder of all my school articles from high school from the years 2000-2004. So I had some good times reading these so I though I would post them here, please excuse the grammar mistakes. This one was written on September 4th 2002 for English 11 CP.

Personal Statement Essay

I chose to write my essay on somebody who has impacted my life. The person that I chose to write about was my grandfather on my mother’s side, Grandpa Walker. He has been a major influence on my life over the past sixteen years.

I can remember when I spent most of my summers that at his house in Princeton. While I was at his house in the summer time I remember him teaching me how to tie flies for fly fishing and going over the tedious process with me without losing any patience. I also remember him making me lunch which knowing my grandpa was exciting trying to guess what the secret ingredient was. I also remember him bringing me over to the fire department to show me the life flight helicopter that had just landed there. I also remember watching him as he worked with making wood products and fixing and moving around everything. I also remember him taking me fishing and teaching me how to fish. Then one day when I was about six years old he had a heart attack. I was young back then and I don’t think that I realized what had happened. But now as I look back and really think about what happened I realized what could have gone wrong and then I would have missed. I would have missed the trips that I took with him to Maine to visit his sister, the trip to Cape Cod to visit his brother, the trip to Rhode Island to visit his other sister. I would have also missed spending all the holidays with him and some other weekends I spent with him. Now I watch him doing everything he used to do not slowing down a bit and I realized that even with the pace-maker he has and going through the heart attack that he can still do anything and nothing can stop him not even a heart attack.

How this influenced me is that I know that he can go through anything and come out just as before means that I can do the same. I’ve had to go through a lot less then he has like, not wanting to go to school or not wanting to do my homework or doing something that I didn’t think I could like taking a swimming test or having to talk in front of large groups of people. And I know that everything will be the same and I’ll be ok. This is how one person, my grandpa, has influenced my life.