In the space provided, please write a concise narrative in which you describe a meaningful event, experience or accomplishment in your life and how it will affect your college experience or your contribution to the UF campus community. You may want to reflect on your ideas about student responsibility, academic integrity, campus citizenship or a call to service.
When I was younger my family would travel to Florida to visit my grandmother and grandfather 2-3 times a year, once for Christmas and once or twice in the summer. My grandparents lived in Florida for many years before they moved to Tennessee to be closer to their children. They are remarkable individuals in their early 90s who still live together in an assisted living facility. There is one story of my grandfather in particular to makes me extremely proud to be a part of his family.
My grandfather, Harold Brown Clark, was an individual who would trust anyone with his life; whether it was for a favor or a small loan of money. Sometimes that person would repay the favor, but sometimes they would take advantage of him. There was a special case where a student came to my grandfather needing to tell him that he had to drop out of college because he was honorably discharged from the military without a job to pay the tuition. My grandfather saw the potential in this young man and could not stand to see him drop out. My grandfather paid this students tuition so that he could graduate and earn his degree. Our family learned of this story when the student called 30 years later to speak with my grandfather. This man is now the CEO of a major insurance company on the east coast.
This story is something very important to me because it reflects on the type of person that I wish to become. It is the character of my grandfather that is extremely rare in this world today. My grandfather lived in Gainesville, Florida for 88 years, and for 30 of those years he was a professor of Agricultural Economics and Marketing at the University of Florida.
When I was younger my family would travel to Florida to visit my grandmother and grandfather 2-3 times a year, once for Christmas and once or twice in the summer. My grandparents lived in Florida for many years before they moved to Tennessee to be closer to their children. They are remarkable individuals in their early 90s who still live together in an assisted living facility. There is one story of my grandfather in particular to makes me extremely proud to be a part of his family.
My grandfather, Harold Brown Clark, was an individual who would trust anyone with his life; whether it was for a favor or a small loan of money. Sometimes that person would repay the favor, but sometimes they would take advantage of him. There was a special case where a student came to my grandfather needing to tell him that he had to drop out of college because he was honorably discharged from the military without a job to pay the tuition. My grandfather saw the potential in this young man and could not stand to see him drop out. My grandfather paid this students tuition so that he could graduate and earn his degree. Our family learned of this story when the student called 30 years later to speak with my grandfather. This man is now the CEO of a major insurance company on the east coast.
This story is something very important to me because it reflects on the type of person that I wish to become. It is the character of my grandfather that is extremely rare in this world today. My grandfather lived in Gainesville, Florida for 88 years, and for 30 of those years he was a professor of Agricultural Economics and Marketing at the University of Florida.