Mark Grant

My parents were planning on naming me Macy, so when I came out they were pretty stunned. I’m sure my father had mixed feelings, ecstatic to have an heir to his name, yet dreading having to repaint the room he spent hours turning pink and flowery for his daughter to be. Nonetheless, on April 26, 1987, Mark and Joyce Grant brought me, Mark Eric Grant Jr., home from the Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge.

Before I went to kindergarten I taught myself to read. I started by sounding out syllables on billboards while riding in the backseat, and by third grade I was reading John Grisham’s “ The Client. “ Once I learned how to read, I was hooked, and kept my head in a book. I can remember in London one time I was reading while following my parents, and I hit my head on a handrail. The impact knocked me unconscious and left a permanent scar on my head. It took my parents a few blocks to realize I was gone because I had been quietly reading behind them for so long.

As a child growing up, I was fearless. At 3 I took a picture holding a 9 foot boa constrictor. At 6 I jumped off the roof of our house, and at 7 I had to get my eye stitched closed after my older cousin threw me into a desk while we were wrestling. Throughout all these events I was never injured, and rarely was I frightened. No matter how hard the fall, I was always ready to bounce back and try again. While my unfortunate friends suffered broken limbs and fractures, I was walking away from snowboarding accidents unharmed.

I love being outside, and as far back as I can remember I’ve been camping and playing sports. I spent most of my summers were spent at baseball tournaments or on 100-mile treks hiking. I joined Boy Scouts when I was young and made it to Eagle Scout. Scouts taught me how to take control of bad situations and how to work as a group toward a common goal. Being a Scout also allowed me to travel all over the U.S. to several national parks. I’ve hiked though mountains in Idaho and across deserts in New Mexico, just to name a few. Seeing so many sites gave me a new love for travelling, and, ever since, I’ve been doing just that. This past summer I travelled to Thailand for three weeks to visit friends. Going there was one of the best experiences of my entire life. I came back with a new view of what is important in life.

I attended U-High on LSU’s campus for elementary and middle school. I excelled in multiple sports playing baseball, football and running varsity track. I left U-high after eighth grade and attended high school at Catholic High. I played football and ran track there, and, if it weren’t for several knee injuries, I may have been able to take it to the next level. Throughout middle and high school I had three knee surgeries to repair torn cartilage.
My childhood is the defining point in my life. I feel like I’m still a kid at heart, I like doing boyish, outside things, and I love playing with toys. But now, instead of water balloon fights, it’s paintball, and instead of G.I. Joes, it’s plasma screen TVs.