PARIS GRAMANN
Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emJir_esJC0
Why do some seeds flourish, while others are left to perish? It is because of nutrients .. the people that we surround ourselves with, the experiences that make us expand our horizons-to fulfill our full potential.
I'm Paris and my passion, in one word, is growth.
Growth is everywhere and in every person.
My favorite areas of growth are Music, Business, Knowledge, Personality, Communication...
Each nutrient helps to create and mature a human being. A human seed.
Music. I LOVE music. Learning new songs, WRITING new songs! Teaching music. GROWING the WORLD of
music!
Business. Almost EVERYONE you know has an idea that is just WAITING to bloom into something larger.
They might just need an entrepreneurial green thumb to help them grow it.
On a trip to the Dominican Republic I visited a group of people creating authentic sculptures with petrified wood, and it made me want to help develop their business into a thriving company where THEY could benefit from their profit, not the local hotels.
There are so many bright minds and potential endeavors in this world that idle without sparks. I want to be that spark.
Knowledge. Knowledge is derivative. Once you learn the basics, REALLY get to KNOW the basics, you move on to higher learning. Algebra, then Trigonometry, then Calculus. Engineers are solving massive problems based on their love of math ... Growing a mind is imperative.
In opening your mind, you expand your roots. Expand your possibilities. I have been interested in everything ... from the design world, to the math world, to the medical world. I have pursued these fields with an internship at a design showroom, an internship in a hospital, and with clubs at school.
Another facet of growth: collaboration. As Maya Angelou said, the sum of us is greater than our parts.
No matter how much you may try to work on your own, growth comes with collaboration. By opening your
mindset and life to new friendships, new ideas, and new conversations, your possibilities suddenly, expand. I have learned through my leadership roles at school, being president of two clubs, that it may take a lot to work with peers, but experiencing the pursuit of our futures together, is priceless.
When I was asked to be a part of an Online Course, DLMOOC, generated by my high school, High Tech High, I felt honored. Later, I was even asked to facilitate one of these sessions with a fellow panelist. I had been nervous, thinking things like, "With this international audience of thousands, I could make a fool of myself and everyone would see..." Well, I probably did, but I lived... and I LOVED my experience. I came away, after the hour of talking with other students about our educational backgrounds and thoughts, with a feeling of rejuvenation. I had tried a new experience, and I had succeeded.
I have grown up hearing words like, "Rise to the challenge" and "Don't let life happen to you ... happen to life." I have grown up, learning, and loving, to grow.
Growth is one word that encapsulates the endless opportunities that life has to offer. It is the one word that describes endless learning, endless ideas, and endless adventure. It is the process, in which a seed, becomes a tree.
My name is Paris Gramann, and growth, is my passion.
This scholarship will help me grow even further.