The Greg-stein Files, Part 11: Bonus Young-Writer Edition

The 11th part of a 10-part series of personal notes focusing on gratitude.

* * * * * * * *

June 9, 2024

Dear Carl and Ann:

It’s been decades since we last interacted. I hope you’ve had rich, fulfilling lives! 

I’m writing to you as a past recipient of generous support from the Hayes Foundation. I wanted to provide a bit of a life update and, relatedly, to express my gratitude for the Foundation’s long-ago but life-changing support.

In brief, after graduating from Rutland High School (1991), I earned a B.A. in Biology at Williams College (1995) and a Ph.D. in Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Washington (2002). Subsequently confined to the Seattle area for family reasons, I spent many years in temporary postdoctoral lab-research and teaching positions until 2017, when I landed a tenure-track job at Everett Community College, where I’ve been ever since.

As a researcher, I would describe myself as “competent.” I am good, though not outstanding, at designing experiments and collecting and interpreting data. I’ve helped advance our collective knowledge of science and of science education in meaningful but modest increments.

If one were to scrutinize my CV, however, one might get the impression that I’m brilliant! Collaborating with researchers from all over the world, I’ve placed dozens of articles in respected peer-reviewed journals. I’ve continued to do so even since moving to EvCC, which does not expect or incentivize such work.

You might ask how I, with my solid but unremarkable research skills, have attained this disproportionate success in academic writing. 

A comprehensive answer might start with the fact that it’s helpful to have a professional writer and editor as a parent. But another key part of the answer would surely be that, as an adolescent, I benefited from multiple enrichment programs thanks to support from the Hayes Foundation. Most significantly, I attended a weekend writing club (1984-85?) at the Rutland Free Library, led by David Dangler and Joan Aleshire, and a Center for Talented Youth (CTY) summer camp (1986?) at Skidmore College, where my main focus was a creative writing course taught by Gerry Cuite.

These teachers did much more than encourage my peers and me; they treated us as serious writers whose work was worthy of their attention. They challenged us with a variety of assignments, and they offered interesting, engaged responses to each individual. For example, upon reading some maudlin song lyrics that I had drafted, David Dangler noted their apparent country-and-western flavor and asked me whether I had a particular musical genre in mind, a great question that I hadn’t considered. While I didn’t immediately understand or act upon all of the advice that was offered, I certainly internalized the broader lesson that writing well was an iterative process that rewarded persistence, experimentation, and the solicitation and usage of feedback. 

The writing I produced during those years was largely undistinguished. When I attempted to satirize Miami Vice (a show I had not actually watched), Gerry Cuite astutely rated my Skidmore Vice as “close, but not quite satire.” Still, attempting these pieces and receiving expert feedback moved me well along the path of becoming a mature, successful writer. From high school onward, while I’ve struggled with many academic and professional challenges, I’ve been able to write with confidence under almost any circumstances. In the language of today’s teens, “writing is my superpower.”

Thoughts of you and the Hayes Foundation recently came to mind when my middle son, Sam, qualified to move to a school for what the Seattle Public Schools call the Highly Capable Cohort (HCC). My wife and I discussed whether we should take advantage of this opportunity. We share some ambivalence about systems in which certain kids are prioritized based on their standardized test scores, as I once was. In the end, though, the decision was fairly straightforward. When extra resources are offered to help your child spread their wings a bit, what else is there to do, really, but to say yes with excitement and with gratitude?

How immensely fortunate I was, back when I was the kid in question, that the Hayes Foundation repeatedly offered its help, and that my parents repeatedly said yes.

Sincerely,

Greg Crowther