Grant – Civil Engineer

We are so proud of our son Grant.  He recently graduated cum laude from California Baptist University as a Civil Engineer. In his four years of college he…

• Navigated COVID. Got sent home in March of his first year of college to finish online. His second year the campus was still closed and classes were online, but his engineering labs were in person, so he had to move 1,000 miles back to Cali to live by himself on a closed campus.  It was lonely and not easy.
• Tried his hand at Division I water polo, but did not like it.  His last three years he used that extra time to become really good at skateboarding and rock climbing. He also bought a bike that he chose to ride most places instead of drive.
• Played drums in the pep band at his school all four years.
• Played drums and bass guitar on the worship team at his church, almost every week for the last two years.
• Put himself through college by working at least 15 hours a week all four years.  He purposely chose the 5 a.m. shift at Home Depot to free up his afternoons and evenings to recreate. Not many kids can say they put themselves through college, but that’s exactly what Grant did. #braggingrights
• Helped build a DIY skatepark in an abandoned ditch to bring value to a space in the Riverside community that would have otherwise been taken over by drug use and crime.

One of the things I loved about Grant’s college experience is his intentionality in deciding how he spent his time and who he spent it with.  Grant has never met a person that he can’t find something redeeming about. He befriends the homeless and downtrodden.  He makes people feel known and valued, especially the ones that most people purposely avoid. Little kids love him because he treats them like an equal and the “little groms” were constantly hitting him up to meet them at the skatepark.

His #1 objective academically was to understand the engineering material.  He really didn’t care very much about his grades and since he was footing the bill for his college experience, he got to decide how much effort he put into his classes.  He never once told us his GPA… just that he was getting “mostly A’s and B’s.” It was such a fun moment when they called his name at graduation and added “cum laude.” None of us knew he was graduating with honors… maybe not even him since cares zero percent about that.

Grant was a cool kid when he started at CBU.  He graduated as an admirable and accomplished man: mature in his faith, confident in his friendships and his calling, hardworking, and still as active and goofy as ever.  Well done Son.  We are so proud.

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