As I sit here, thinking about any "talks" my family ever had about education, I can't think of any. I think it was always just assumed and never really spoken about. I know I shouldn't apologize for my family or any success they have had, but it is second nature to start that way whever I talk about my family and their occupations. I just know how annoying it is to be around people who are dying for others to know how much money they have, etc. Anyway, here goes....my grandfather and his twin brother (on my dad's side) both are doctors; my dad is a doctor; my uncles are all very successful businessmen and my aunts all have college degrees. My mom's dad worked for IBM and retired about 10 years ago and my grandmother worked for Marshall for 25 years before she retired. My mom's brother is a computer programmer who lives in California and my sister and brother in law both graduated from college within the last 2 years. Getting all of that out of the way....needless to say, education was never something that was discussed or debated: it was a way of life.

Growing up, all I *saw* was people pouring hours into work and school, and making the grades. My sister was another one who had a sparkling academic record and I was not about to be outdone by her! :) Because of this environment, being surrounded by a very successful family, I put a huge amount of pressure on myself, even as early as middle school, to be as perfect as possible. That had some negative repercussions in high school and even college, as my self-esteem relied so much on my grades. Because of my work pace, my parents never really had to have "talks" about education or what they expected of me because I already knew by the examples they and so many others in my world had set. Actually, my parents many times had to have talks with me about lowering my expectations of myself, to avoid anxiety and depression about my grades.

I know that I am a very introspective person and have figured a lot out on my own, even with regards to learning and education. Thankfully for my parents, that didn't leave a lot of responsiblility on their shoulders to articulate what was expected of me and why. The bigger job for them (and it was done beautifully, I think), was to show me that, yes, education is important, but the love of a parent is unconditional and far exceeds the significance of a grade any day of the week.