WINTER 2003George A. Crispin
Woodbury MMDedicated to the Financial Aid Committee and to all those who make education at Friends School possible.
ike most people, the basics of all I know were learned at my mother’s knee. She taught me language, how to speak, instilled my morals, and gave me a fundamental view of life. My father played his part in my early education, but his was a more indirect role, by example. His model of hard work, stoic acceptance of difficulties, dedication to task, and endurance have been as rudders throughout my life.
On summer afternoons in our household my mother would prop pillows under her head, open a book, and read. I hated reading. It was boring and I was not good at it. But her example planted the seeds for what later in life became almost an obsession, proving that, with careful nurturing and watering, seeds planted early in life can later grow abundantly.
As powerful as it was, example and efforts at my mother’s knee were not enough for success in school. Seldom a disobedient child, I never theless benefitted little from elementary school. I was uninterested in what they had to offer. Alive with energy, it was too sedentary. I fell further and further behind. I read poorly, did little homework, acquired inadequate skills. The situation became an overwhelming concern to my parents.
It was from this condition that my mother made the second, after my birth, most important decision in my life. She decided that I should attend a Quaker boarding school. My father was not enthused at first, but went along with her decision, as he usually did. Thus, in the summer of 1951, we trekked to Westtown School, sat in Headmaster Dan Test’s office, and mapped my future. I remember walking down the “granolithic,” the long walkway that crosses the entire campus. Looking back, I realize that I really had little comprehension of what was happening.
Thus, in the fall of 1951, my father drove me to Westtown, unloaded my bags, wished me well, and left. I lived in Stone House, in a room with three other boys, a dorm for seventh graders. One might expect that I would be homesick. I was not. It was a huge adventure, the greatest adventure since going to Camp Onas for two weeks in the summer. As an only child, I was elated with scores of boys as companions. We had pillow fights and other nefarious adventures. Life was without boredom.
During my first year at Westtown I was placed in the care of Teacher Louise Hart. No teacher I have ever had before or since has ever shown me more understanding, patience, forgiveness, humor, and a steadfast dedication to the nearly impossible task of educating me. For the first time a classroom was an adventure, learning was an uplifting experience, and reading was a delightful challenge. It was a good start.
As my second year at Westtown began, my mother died unexpectedly. It was especially hard since I had had no time to say goodbye. It was then that the third most important decision was made, this time by my father. He decided to remain true to my mother’s wishes and continue my education at Westtown. It meant that he had to live alone. It also meant that he had to singlehandedly earn the money to pay the tuition. For him that meant working in a dusty packing plant until he was 75 years old. For this courageous effort on his part I am grateful to this day. From this profound example I shall pour my soul into doing the same for my son. Westtown School responded to this situation by granting me financial aid, and act of generosity for which, again, I am grateful every day of my life.
For six years of my life I lived and worked under Westtown’s care. Two undeniable resultant developments emerged: I gained the skills, the habits, the love of learning for future academic success, and perhaps even more important, I absorbed Quaker ideals and moral imperatives that have been ever since a north star in the constellation of my moral life.
The rest is history. In 1957 I graduated from Westtown and went on to Temple University. By then I was so motivated by the examples I absorbed at Westtown that I attacked learning the same way I engaged in athletics, voracious ly. At one time I simultaneously attended two universities, graduated with two majors, and have since earned four college degrees. More importantly, much of my life I have spent volunteering time and energy to address moral causes in which I believe. This is not because I am a better person than anyone else, or more intelligent. Most of what is good and competent and contributory about me today is due to the education I received at a Quaker school, an education I am sure I would not have received anywhere else.
Every day of my life, something good given to me at Westtown shines forth in some positive way and does some good in the world. I am thankful beyond measure that I have lived long enough to have a son for whom I can now pass on those sacrifices and hard work my parents made for me. I shall dedicate the rest of my life, if need be, to assure that he gets an education in a Quaker school, like Friends School and Westtown, whatever be the cost, that he, too, will get the best education that can be had, beyond his mother’s knee.
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