G.N.Wallace

I must admit that, when I chose this project, I did not anticipate that some of the challenges presented would even exist in the first place. The motto for the duration of this endeavor quickly became, "You don't know what's going to happen until you get to it." The reason for this was that at every step along the way, there was a new issue that would arise and we would have to find a way to overcome in order to proceed. With that being the case, I was constantly having to devise new and creative ways to accomplish the tasks at hand with the materials and tools I had available. It was through that continual process of adapting and overcoming that I was able to practice my abilities of finding creative solutions to unexpected problems. 

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Another way that this project enabled me to practice developing necessary skills was that, particularly during the early stages, I had to be able to effectively communicate my intended design plans to my father and my sons who were helping me. There were a few moments where I had to take different approaches in how I was attempting to explain my plans because any time you are dealing with multiple people, especially of such varying ages, you have to be able to communicate on their level. To give a specific example, at one point I asked my son to help stain the desk. He had never done anything quite like this before, so, I had to physically demonstrate what that meant. His level of visual learning is high, which required me to show him in order to fully communicate what I was asking of him. On the opposite end of the spectrum, my father only needed to hear what I was requiring the desk to be able to do in order to understand. This kind of communicative flexibility is an important skill that can be utilized in any field.

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Perhaps the most meaningful lesson learned from this project is to take pride in your work. It may have taken longer than expected to build, or repeated design revisions, or even complete mistakes that had to be rebuilt, but the point is that through the negative issues, I remained positive about my goals. This desk represents a unique product that three generations of my family had a hand in creating. It was built to last and will be around for future generations to appreciate as well. Had I been less determined to put my full effort into this project, I would likely have never finished it, or at the very least been ashamed of how it may have turned out.

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This project has been an outstanding opportunity and experience for me. Thank you for your interest in it and I hope you enjoy seeing the work that has been done as much as we enjoyed the process of building it.

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G. N. Wallace