13A

I read The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

1. I was very surprised to find out that the Wright brothers' passion for airplanes began when their dad gave them a toy plane as a gift. That simple toy impacted their lives forever and it is humbling to think about how their gifted minds started thinking about this complex invention at such a young age, which is very admirable. On the contrary, I found out that neither of the brothers ever attended college or even graduated high school but they overcame this adversity. This goes to show that any person can achieve whatever they want to if they set their minds to it, regardless of however many degrees they have or don't have.
2. Because the two brothers worked on the invention of the glider plane together, they used each other in the best way possible. Orville had a certain set of skills that Wilbur lacked and vice versa, so the two would go to the other for assistance when they could not resolve an issue themselves. This goes to show how using your competencies and strategically acquiring a business partner with opposite competencies can allow your business to flourish.
3. Throughout the book, the author would refer to the brothers as a single unit, thus making it difficult to identify each sibling's individual feelings. I appreciate the fact that McCullough did this because it shows the strength and cooperation between the two brothers, but I also wish that he could have taken us a little more deep into each character's thoughts so we could receive a better understanding of their mentality throughout this narrative.
4. Personally, I am terrified of flying on planes. I hate traveling from any distance, especially short distance flights with a lot of turbulence. Going off of that, the first question I would ask the Wright brothers is whether or not they were scared of flying in the first plane ever invented. I would also question how they got the courage and the idea to build their own device that flies. Furthermore, I would ask what they envisioned the future of aviation to be like in 100 years after they first flew their small plane because I am positive that they did not picture the modern aircrafts that we have today.
5. I believe that the Wright brothers valued hard work more than anything else, even an education. This is seen by the fact that neither of the brothers received a high school or college diploma but they were determined to complete a project that they had set their sights on. While I agree that anyone can accomplish anything they please, I believe it is a lot easier to accomplish many of these tasks with a solid education or intensive background knowledge on the subject. I believe that school takes hard work but I also realize that what the Wright brothers achieved also required a lot of effort and, without the proper schooling, this feat was truly a remarkable one.