I never saw Daniel read one book in 7th grade. But this didn’t stop him from getting good grades or being on the school’s kick ass science team. His secret to success was to align himself with people who wanted his skills in exchange for theirs. He liked to be the power point guy, and his ease with public speaking made him well suited to be a valuable member of middle school academia teams. He was laying the foundation for what would be (so far) a life of working smarter not harder. That’s not to say that he’s work shy. He absolutely works hard, but he’ll also spend some time assessing if there’s a way to accomplish things in a more efficient way.
This lesson was only reinforced by his high school education experience. His freshman year, he was enrolled in honors English. His hate for it was reflected in his grade. That year we learned about credit recovery and summer school. Daniel made up for a whole semester in roughly 3 days worth of summer school. It was an example of his abilities and made me think about that special meeting his 4th grade teacher made us have with the principal. We were to address Daniel’s goofing off in class. Teacher, Mr. Whatever, was irritated that Daniel didn’t see the value in his academic career at age 9. Principal, Mrs. Whatever, looked at his state testing scores and determined that Dan was bored. I believe she was right.
Dan wasn’t interested in projecting an image of a serious student, not at 9 and not through his high school. He passed, but it wasn’t because he felt some draw to get the highest marks. When something interests him however, he is a voracious learner. It’s never about showing off his knowledge, it’s about learning what he wants to know.
Since he couldn’t give a fuck about high school, he wasn’t in the position to jump in to a 4 year college. But, he’d taken it upon himself to pursue an associate degree at Delta Junior College in Stockton. The fact that he chose a program associated with his dad’s work is far less about nepotism than it was about his natural maker/fixer skill set. From where I sit I can see a number of projects his little 14 year old self built with ease. You can’t really see someone’s maker/builder attributes until you’ve seen what it looks like for someone to not have them. Daniel definitely has it.
He went through a competitive testing and interview process to get in to the Think Big program. It’s designed to further the education of the all-too-needed fixers of tractors. He was praised for his poise as well as his mechanical aptitude. A lot of times people have either one or the other of these qualities. It’s not as common for someone to have both.
He moved his baby self to Stockton and kicked that program’s ass.
I was beyond happy that he’d gone this far in his schooling. It was clear that he wanted it and it would happen on his terms.
Then he wanted more.
It was surprise to us that he’d decided to further his education and move to Kansas (!!!!!). The goal was to get his Bachelor’s of Science degree in diesel tech from Pittsburg State University.
It was great to see an accomplishment of importance to him be celebrated. He’s done all this on his own, and it makes my heart want to burst with pride.
Only time will tell what Dan’s next accomplishment will be. He’s going to live local this summer at least to get his journeyman card (I think). Maybe he’ll stay local, maybe he’ll move to Chile, with him it’s really impossible to guess. Whatever the next thing is, it will be because it makes sense to him. He’ll slay it and find a beautiful balance between work and play. I can’t wait to see what happens next. Congrats Danny!
Bifocals and Barbells 