Well, James is a Senior now and has had to write multiple essays on various things as he is applying to many Colleges ....
This was the ask...
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
James' essay
In 1968, Chevrolet produced 40,977 RS Camaros, and one of those ended up in my possession. Growing up, the Camaro was ever present, but I never thought much of it until my dad asked me if I wanted to help him restore it. At 14 years old, I had no mechanical experience; I had never even held a wrench before. However, I had seen my dad restoring cars throughout my life, and I knew he would be there to help me when I needed it. I had no idea where to start, but my dad took the lead. Within hours we had the entire front end of the car apart. After about a month, we had most of the car disassembled, and it was time to repair and refinish everything. I was constantly sanding, cleaning, and repainting parts throughout this process. The first time I painted, I didn’t clean it properly, resulting in the paint starting to flake. The second time I painted it, I used too much paint, causing it to drip. After much trial and error, I became fluent in cleaning and repainting any part that needed it. This process of trial and error continued for years, but it was the end goal that kept me going.
Finally, the day came when we were going to start the car for the first time in 37 years. Now 16, I was beyond excited to start up the engine. When the time came, I cranked the motor, and all I heard was the whine of the starter. The engine would turn over, but after multiple attempts, it still wouldn’t start. Feeling demoralized, we rolled it back into the garage and tried to figure out what was wrong. After troubleshooting, we discovered that the fuel lines were flipped, and no fuel was getting into the engine. With the problem fixed, we rolled it out of the garage to start it up again. “3, 2, 1,” but this time, the whine of the starter was not there. The starter was broken; the car wouldn’t start. Back to the drawing board, we rolled the car back into the garage and had to start over. This time we discovered that the starter had gone out, and we had to replace it. With all these repairs done, we finally got the engine started. When the engine fired up, my pride, happiness, and gratitude were overwhelming because we had finally accomplished what we had set out to achieve.
Despite the setbacks, I learned to enjoy the process and never give up. I can persist in facing challenges and achieve anything I want. Seeing the improvements on a day-to-day basis kept me motivated when I started to feel overwhelmed. One of my favorite parts is taking it to car shows with my dad and talking to other car enthusiasts about our project. This two-year project with my dad is a significant milestone in my life. Reflecting on late nights with my dad was when I truly got to know the man he is, and I understood that he was a model for me for the kind of person I want to be. I realized I wanted to foster the same type of relationships with other people in my life that I love and care about. This process taught me that the journey is truly just as important as the destination.
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Serious proud Dad moment here. I'm going to reflect back on this one until the day I'm gone..... We try so hard as parents to raise our kids and hope they get it... This kid gets it 100%, and truth be told.. He has made it easy for us. So blessed and proud. ( And yes.. I was cutting onions when I read this...)
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