The hour hand hits six, the minute hand hits twelve and the alarm goes off; Griffin Mcdonald’s day is just beginning. All it takes is for the alarm to go off, and he’s up and running within a matter of seconds.
Griffin McDonald, born on July 11th, 1989, was born and raised in Maryland. He lived in Damascus for the first ten years of his life, and then moved to Germantown, where he would stay until he left for college.
Growing up, Griffin was never close with his brother Colin or his sister Lindsey. Whenever he needed advice or help, he would go to his parents. Though Griffin was very close to both his father, Tim, who works as a civil engineer, and his mother Ann, a former nurse, he always preferred going to his father for anything. “Throughout my life, my dad has always been there for me and continues to be my role model,” Griffin said.
Griffin has always looked up to his father. His father has helped through anything Griffin approached him with, whether it had been a school problem or a personal issue. “I can respect what he has done; never given up and worked hard, provided a very good quality of life for our family, been an excellent father,” Griffin said. His mother also played a large role in his life. She made sure that he was on the right track in school, and being involved out of school, such as getting a job.
Working hard has always been a key quality of Griffin. Throughout his 13 years of education before college, he received mostly A’s and some B’s. Out of school, Griffin held two jobs, one at a summer camp, and the other at a veterinary clinic as an assistant. “When he sets his mind to something he can get anything done,” Lindsey, Griffin’s 21 year old sister said.
Lindsey and Griffin had never gotten along while they lived together, but when Lindsey moved away to college, their relationship completely changed. This seemed to run in the family with Griffin and his siblings, because the same had happened with his older brother Colin. Colin, being 5 years older than Griffin, could never really relate to his younger brother at all. The two brothers would argue growing up, but when Colin moved out of the house to work, he and Griffin became much closer.
Family is not only a big part of Griffin’s life, but friends are too. Griffin and many of his friends have a long history together; they were in school together from kindergarten to their final year in high school. “When it came to friendship, I always said quality over quantity,” Griffin said. One family in particular considered Griffin to be part of their family, and Griffin considered them to be part of his. The Wright family had lived on the same street as Griffin after the McDonald’s had moved to Germantown.
“After I moved, this is who I would do everything with,” Griffin said. The Wright family treated Griffin as one of their own. He went on vacations with them, had countless meals with them, stayed with them for prolonged periods of time, and so much more. Since Griffin was 7 miles away from his other friends, he felt that it was important to make new friends that he wouldn’t have to drive to see, and the Wright family filled that position almost instantaneously.
As a child, Griffin seemed to be a different person than who he is now. “Griffin was very friendly and sociable when he was younger and now a days he seems to hide behind his shell a little,” Lindsey said. Griffin always enjoyed spending quality time with his smaller group of close friends rather than going out with numerous people. One thing him and his friends had in common growing up was soccer. They all played together on the same team and got to spend as much time as possible together. Griffin grew up playing soccer starting in kindergarten and had many friends on the team, but as high school approached, he dropped the sport and took a great interest in aviation.
As soon as he entered high school, Griffin knew he wanted to do something with aviation. He wanted to take flight lessons, but his mother found it to be “too dangerous” Griffin said. Throughout high school, Griffin researched a lot of different types of engineering but found aerospace the most interesting. Because there was no engineering club at his school, Griffin and his friends would build radio controlled airplanes and fly them in a field by his house.
Applying to college is one of the most stressful times in a high school student’s life, but luckily for Griffin, he was accepted into his first choice school, Virginia Tech, and his backup school University of Maryland. Upon entering Virginia Tech, Griffin knew one thing most students didn’t know; what kind of job he wanted after college. Griffin majored in Aerospace engineering so he could word with planes or any type of aerospace mechanics. Another dream of Griffin’s is to one day fly a plane, if it’s alright with his mom.
Another chapter of Griffin’s life is just starting, and some of his goals are being further as every day goes by. Right now, Griffin is a student in college, but soon enough he will be working on planes and enjoying his life with his friends and family surrounding him, just the way he wants it to be.
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