Living With and Surviving Duress by Bruce

Living With and Surviving Duress by Bruce - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

While I was a student at White River High School from 1961-1965, 3 of my 4 years in the English class were with a very fine teacher of exact details and methods. His name was Mr. Gledietchz. I can only describe him as a man of distinct opinions, extensive generosity, and compassionate caring. He privately confided to me that he was a survivor from the Holocaust of the 1930's-1940's in Europe, and that his heritage was Jewish. In the little community of Buckley, Washington, life was centered around the prejudices of the lodges, singularity of ethnicity, and that only certain opinions were appropriate. I was one of three sons of the only mortician in this area. My entire childhood was developed in the shadows of the mortuary and the ever present expectation that life had nonnegotiable boundaries. Mr. Gledietchz was an intellectual light in this dark tunnel of opinions/expectations. My entire high school experience was enriched by his careful and professional mentoring.

What he taught me was the principal of caring for others in spite of one's own overwhelming needs to survive. There was plenty of academic information about the Holocaust, especially so with the Jewish victims. However, beyond the encyclopedia of suffering facts, he detailed how serving others became a pivotal means of surviving impossible circumstances of fate. I never asked about the many minor moments of his survival or even his immigration to a safe haven. I did receive extensive tutoring on the application techniques of caring for others. In his life experience, he became energized with inspiration, ingenuity, and the will to continue when he served the needs of others. A wonderful expression from his life reflection was something like this:"...in serving others, I became free...".

Now, I take this young adult character format into the independent adult world I entered in the 1960's.
From 1965-1969, my everyday focus was--in part--the choices to be made around always immediate presence of the military draft. I finished my degree studies in Botany/Chemistry at Central Washington University in 1969. I was able to be involved in the VISTA program for a year before I had to make the enlistment choice. The year of community service focused a maturity to care for others on Indian Reservations. For a fellow who was all "white' culturally and having grown up in a distinctly divided town, my English teacher's ideals were the best guiding example of how I could adapt to a very unfamiliar environment. Then the military service involved my training as a medic and nurse. This was a period in the Vietnam Conflict when the casualties were only best described as grim, gruesome, and grieving. My mentoring from years past came to full focus as I gave up all of my personal anguish of war and served the never ending suffering of the returning soldiers to military hospitals. Anytime I found myself being sorry for me, I gained the enduring strength to continue because of my mentoring teacher of years past.

In a small way of reflection on my everyday life management now as a retired teacher, I can clearly say that Mr. Gledietchz was a benchmark influence on how I designed my professional training both in the sciences and again as a teacher in the 1970's after my military service was fulfilled. Raising a family of 8 children and the every moment experience of communities has been impacted by the foundational thinking of how to balance my place and the needs of others. Life has been very good, occasionally challenging, only terrifying a few times, and always a vision of hope.

I am planning to study for a certificate in Viticulture agriculture and marketing. This will take about 3 quarters of part time studies with evening classes.