Essay Sample about Jay Hurley from Shepherdstown

Every person loves success and the fruits that come following hard work. There are always people whose actions of handwork are looked at as the pacesetters of success even to the entire society. Shepherdstown is known so widely because of the beautiful environment it creates to its visitors. Though it is a little university, it is unique and a magnificent historical vision. People may never stop wondering and ask about the source of the uniqueness of Shepherdstown. The cause is people. For people who have lived in the town for a long time, they may not know how much good it feels to come knowing nobody and meet everyone in the street saying hi and giving you a happy smile. People are just friends and have no suspicion. Some may find nothing unique in that because to them it is a norm.

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Although accepting strangers has been upheld in the town so firmly, it did not just begin happening. There is a force which made the residents of Shepherdstown learn to appreciate strangers. If Shepherdstown is a movie with all its understated rustic charm, friendliness, creativity, intelligence, and elegance, then Jay Hurley has played a significant role. Jay Hurley is a known legend around the parts of this town. He seems to be recognised by everyone. Every person knows Jay as a person of wisdom, likes stories and fun.

Jay was born in a family of five; Ruth, Melburn Glenn, and three sons; Thomas, Jay, and Glenn. His place of birth is here at Shepherdstown. Property of their family included a mobile home park, two outbuildings and seven acres of land. Although there was a big piece of land, they were financially unstable, and money was a bit tight. Jay can still remember the days he took working with his father. He also remembers that meals were always coming from the garden of his mother. His family genes had a defect of poor eyesight. Due to that reason, at the age of seven years, Jay had surgery due to cataract. At that time, his father was losing sight and going blind. This defect made life harder for the family.

Jay confesses that he was not the best student in Shepherdstown High School where he graduated. Electronics was the subject of his passion. It was in the 1950s, and so he believed future industry of electronics was promising. He, therefore, made electronics his subject of study. However, there was not enough money to fund his college education. So, he had to go to college through his efforts, and he knew it. His first adventure in electronics was to study television and radio repair at Kanawha Valley. Next stop was the newest radio station in Hagerstown, WARK. While here, Jay gained skills in tower maintenance and hence he was able to finance his education.

Although Jay was majorly and naturally in electronics, he also had other talents. His Sunday school teacher, Arthur Prayther, first identified that Jay had an ability in public speaking. Jay continued taking radio courses at Shepherd University without forgetting the encouragements of Arthur. This ability helped him gain experience in on-air interviewing, and the long run earned him a job at a radio station in Washington. After his studies in Grantham School of Electronics, he got his first-class license in Radio and Telephone operators' SCC/FCC. At the same season, he was working the night shift of the radio station in Annapolis.

Due to his desire to keep his experience increasing and mind developing, he enrolled to community college and took writing courses. He wanted to learn everything he could afford. Afterwards, Jay went to Chicago at DeVry Institute of Technology and finally, he had good grades in radar detection. His doors of employment opened and good employers started looking for him. When the Soviet Union launched spy satellites, Jay was following them at the Aleutian Islands. He tracked them in Turkey when the satellites went up again. After staying in Turkey for two years, Jay decided to keep aside radar detection. His credits were all accepted by Western Michigan University, and he returned to the States to complete his degree course, bought a real estate, and lived at Kalamazoo until 1977.

Jay started his store at home in 1979. The mobile home park remains intact with the seven acres of land still unsold. However, the piece of land now has two workshops, two barns, and a house. Although Jay was a hardworking man, he never wanted to credit himself with full efforts behind the success of any project. He had employed workers at his store, O'Hurley's. Jay believed that O'Hurley's was a success of his team of workers. However, since some types of projects need collective effort and wisdom to be successful, Jay joined Town Council, Riverwalk, and The Rumseian Society. He was the chairman of the steamboat committee after the idea of building a James Rumsey Steamboat replica was born. The Steamboat is today's one of the major attractions in Shepherdstown (Curtis & Darwin, Pg3).

Despite the admirable and good traits of Jay Hurley, he had some weaknesses which did not affect his family and friends positively. For instance, after completing his degree program, he bought a free estate at Kalamazoo where he lived until the year 1977. At that time his father's health had greatly declined. His eyesight had also completely gone down. His mother needed the support of her son in helping her husband since her age also had advanced. However, Jay was not available enough to support his mother. His unavailability caused her undergo hard times. His father died during the same year. Jay living far from his parents shows his lack of enough concern to his family.

In conclusion, Jay is a hardworking and a visionary man. Although his dominance in most of the sectors he participated could have been a nuisance to his colleagues, he kept a progressive trend of success in his areas of participation. Except the fact he avoided the company of his parents at their old age and uncertain health status, his character and proved him to be a resourceful man. There seems that Jay Hurley can do much any moment he plans and decides to do them. His life is an encouragement to any person wishing to harvest fruits of determination and hard work.

Work cited

Curtis, Darwin O'Ryan.The Rumseian Experiment: Being an Account of the Imaginous Mr. Rumsey's Creation of Steamboats During the First Years of Our Republik. Xlibris Corporation, 2010.