The Importance of Education: The Huge Potential in All of Us

Mom believed strongly in education, having graduated from high school when few others did in 1928. She had to attend 11^th and 12^th grades in Houghton, 17 miles away, as John A. Doelle Agricultural School did not go beyond 10^th grade in Mom’s school days. This was quite an achievement, considering she flunked kindergarten – primarily because her mom did not always allow her to attend kindergarten when the snow was deep on the mile and a half walk to school, as Mom was soooo tiny (reaching 4’11” fully grown).

Mom instilled in us the belief that hard work and education were the way out of poverty. All six of us kids have at least a Bachelor’s Degree, and four of us have a Master’s degree or more. We have lived Mom’s dream for us, as all are successful in life. That is a major reason for all the education I have received, and the basis for my belief that all kids can achieve – being a child in a single parent family on welfare does not necessarily equate to poor academic performance.

Mom’s Mental Toughness and What Rubbed Off On Me (biography continued)