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My father passed away a few months ago. When he first became ill, the legacy work I do suddenly became very personal. As I cared for him, the personal then nurtured the professional – I came to understand the importance of what I do at a much deeper level. I share some of these personal/professional connections in the article Ted's Legacy.
My father always told stories about his life. Like one of this year's young winners, as a child I often didn't pay much attention to the stories. But many have stuck with me for years, and are now part of who I am. My dad was an architect and I remember him telling me about once making the construction workers on a job site redo part of a building because it wasn't done properly. It took a lot of time and money to fix the problem, but my dad wanted it done right. That's how he lived, in his words "with a devotion to doing things to the best of my ability with integrity." And that's how I live.
One of the things I love about the Legacy Project's annual Listen to a Life Essay Contest is that every young person has a chance to learn about who they can be through the life stories and experiences of those who have come before them. Even though not all the entries can be official winners, there's a lot of good life advice in the thousands of essays we receive each year from across the country.
For example, 12-year-old Claudia Opiela from New Jersey interviewed her uncle Stanley Filipek. Says her uncle, "I don't think I'm 'old.' I think being 50 is great. Even if I could go back to whatever age I want, I wouldn't want to. Everything is perfect the way it is. I made mistakes and learned, and I have the best family I can ever have. I no longer have the insecurities of youth. I personally think it's the quality of life, not the quantity."
11-year-old Avery Smith in Oregon talked with his grandpa Bill Hoover, 68, a former US Navy pilot. "The goal of life," says Grandpa Bill, "is not to have them slowly lower your body into the grave in perfect condition, but to go skidding into the hole at high speed and with your body totally spent while yelling what a hell of a ride this has been!"
What did 100-year-old great-grandmother Anne Katz share with her great-grandson 12-year-old Jake Hudson of Texas? "In life, we take so much for granted," writes Jake. "Grandma has taught me many lessons. The most valuable are to appreciate my education, work hard, and always help my family. Also, never give up. I'm lucky to have her and very fortunate that at 100, she can still teach me great life lessons."
Farid Mughni of Florida, 16, pondered the meaning of success with his 90-year-old grandfather. "Success" writes Farid, "makes young men and women in the prime of their lives spend hours of their free time locked in a room with a textbook. People spend their entire life vigorously endeavoring to attain success. Indeed, I would like to be successful." But what is success? According to Farid's grandfather, "success isn't about wealth or luxury. It's not about an Ivy League education or a PhD. Rather, a person is successful if, after he passes, other people remember him, other people miss him, other people comment about his excellent character and remark what a great person he was. So don't waste life away chasing a New York City penthouse – because everyone's final home, whether he was a rich entrepreneur or a poor construction worker, will be a six-foot, rectangular hole in the ground. Success is about a person's memory, his legacy."
17-year-old Ying Xu of New York, who interviewed his neighbor Marta Braiterman Tanenbaum, 59, summed it all up by writing, "I think younger generations will really profit if they listen to the words of old ladies and wrinkly old grandpas. Although our society and our technology will continue to change, the generations of people before us will always have something to give to the future. Even if it's just advice given to a 17-year-old who's excited and anxious about college, that advice may change the world. It's up to us, the young people, to take the wisdom of old people and run with it."
Which brings us back to this essay contest. For the Listen to a Life Contest, a young person 8-18 interviews an older adult 50 years or over about their life experiences – their dreams and goals, obstacles they overcame, pivotal experiences, and how they found hope – and submits a 300-word essay. The Grand Prize is a specially autographed copy of the book that inspired the contest, Dream; a framed keepsake award certificate from Frame USA featuring the winning entry; a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer; an iPod nano from Orchard Software; and $800 (for the winning team) plus $25,000 (for the school the winning entrant attends) of educational software from Orchard Software. 20 runners-up receive an MP3 player and $400 of Orchard Software.
The Listen to a Life Contest wouldn't be possible without the participation of many important people. First of all, a warm thank you to all of the teachers and parents who encourage and support young people in entering this contest. A grateful thank you to Generations United in Washington, DC, who partners with us on the contest to reach out to young and old, and organizations big and small across the country to get the word out. An appreciative thank you to our corporate sponsors who provide such wonderful prizes. Lenovo has been with us from the start, providing a ThinkCentre computer as the Grand Prize. Frame USA gives us beautiful frames for the award certificates featuring each winning essay. And Orchard Software provides not only prizes for all the winning students, but a special additional prize for the Grand Prize winner's school, which means that the contest can enrich the lives of so many more students over many years.
How do I say thank you to Jim Barry, an integral part of our judging committee for so many years? I've learned from him how to judge with heart, respect, and attention to detail. Jim has helped us develop an intense, multi-step judging process to ensure we achieve the fairest and best possible end result. Every entrant should know that because of Jim, every single entry is read with care. Your stories teach us a great deal as we share in the lives and experiences of so many people.
As we head into the twelfth year of this contest, we're going to be adding a few new twists to keep things exciting – including an opportunity for entries to be included in the Legacy Project's new Life Statement program, a permanent library of life stories and wisdom.
The next contest starts in September, so make sure you check the Legacy Project website for all the details. In the meantime, click below to find out the Grand Prize winner and twenty runners-up in the 2010-2011 Listen to a Life Contest. The runners-up are presented in no particular order, other than an interesting sequence of stories. Happy reading!
With warm wishes,
Susan V. Bosak
Chair, Legacy Project
Click here to go to the 2010-2011 Listen to a Life Contest Grand Prize winner and the 20 Runners-up |
