Penn oozes American history

Realizing the Great American Educational Dream has always been one of our immigrant parents’ motivators in relocating to the good old U.S.A. At almost 87 yeas of age I made my first visit to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, Pa., in April.

Why? I visited my grandson Patrick Krieger, who attends the University of Pennsylvania there. It is one of the five top universities in the nation. I was awestruck by the university campus as well as the beautiful and historic city.

Breathtaking buildings

The campus is huge, a city in itself with breathtaking university buildings. Patrick loves U Penn and Philadelphia, which is a major hurdle for any college student away from home to master. He just completed his sophomore year.

Walking the campus was a walk back in historical time, with several statues of Ben Franklin dotting the landscape. He was the founder of the university. One of Ben’s famous sayings was embedded in a campus sidewalk: “Wish not so much to live long as to live well.”

The student body was a picture of diversity at its best. Patrick’s great-grandparents came from Italy, Sweden, Ireland, and Germany. They had a dream that at least some of their progeny could become whatever they wanted to be. Patrick’s dream, dating back to elementary school, was to attend an Ivy League school.

He was accepted at U Penn through bulldog persistence and hard work in elementary and high school. I am proud to be a 1951 G.I. Bill graduate of Youngstown College, now Youngstown State University. My father, Giovanni, only had a third grade education in Italy and could neither read nor write in Italian or English. His paychecks were always cashed even though signed with an “X.”

He wasn’t book smart, but did have common sense and a strong work ethic. He would be very happy, as I am, that his great grandson has had an opportunity to pursue the Great American Educational Dream.

Michael J. Laivita is a Youngstown retiree and an inductee into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.