When Eleanor Graham bounced into Ms. Richard and Ms. Armstrong’s combined classroom for kindergarten and first grade at La Honda Elementary, her aspirations surrounding what she was going to be when she grew up were not the typical “teacher, fireman, astronaut, doctor, policeman, movie star” dreams of a 5-year-old.

But then, nothing was typical about this precocious bundle of energy with a big smile and a ready hug. Eleanor wished to be a paleontologist, and she knew how to spell it correctly. However, she was typical in that her dreams changed as she grew older. Now she wants to be a reconstructive facial surgeon.

She made that decision a year ago in a motel room where she was watching a show about a girl from Haiti who had a 16-pound growth on her face as a result of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. Eleanor said, “Her father wrote a letter to a group who brought her case into the public eye. She was rushed to a hospital at the University of Miami, where Dr. Jesus Gomez operated on her. I guess I had an epiphany. From then on I wanted to go into reconstructive surgery. I applied to U of M hoping to be able to have a chance to work under Dr. Gomez.”

A phenomenal aspiration for a 16-year-old, you say? Well, Eleanor is still unique in that she is a 16-year-old senior at Pescadero High School (she turns 17 on June 1) and the youngest winner of University of Miami’s prestigious Isaac Bashevis Singer Scholarship. This is the university’s highest honor for incoming freshmen. This year, 22,000 students applied to the University of Miami; only 2,000 were accepted. Of those applicants, 80 were finalists for the scholarship. Eleanor made the cut. She had to fly to Miami for a weekend-long competition and interview process. Eleanor was one of only 30-35 freshmen awarded this honor, which means she gets her tuition paid during the next four years; that’s at least a $130,000 value.

Yet, Eleanor has other choices as well. She was accepted to the three other schools to which she applied: UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Santa Barbara. UCSB awarded her a $6,000 Regents scholarship. Or she can continue on at Cañada College, where she is presently a concurrent enrollment student, and finish up her general education requirements. After all, she is only 16 and Florida is a long way away.
Whatever she decides to do, however, you can be sure that Eleanor will consider her options carefully. She was a very serious and directed student from the time that she entered school through high school, where principal Amy Wooliever put her on what she calls the “Eleanor Track.” This is not to say that Eleanor sits in her room and studies all the time. She has a full social life including friends, a boyfriend, and extracurricular activities such as swimming. However, her Calculus 2, human biology, and Spanish 2 classes, which she takes at Cañada – as well as her senior project on facial reconstructive surgery, which is a requirement at Pescadero High School – do keep her busy.
Perhaps part of it is in her genes. Her mother, Jeanie Graham, is a technical writer and editor for the Physical Science Group at SRI International, combining her love of writing (she was a journalism major at San Jose State University) and her love of science (chemistry minor). She has worked for SRI for almost three decades. Jeanie Graham is as busy as her daughters. She has been a “winemaker” since she was 5 years old when her father, Bud Rorden, an engineer at SRI, became involved with winemaking – along with other engineers from SRI, who founded Ridge Winery. The winery started by her father is now called Rorden-Graham Winery; it produces pinot noirs and zinfandels primarily used by family, friends, and as donations for fundraisers. She is also an active member of the Viking Boosters at Pescadero High School and a board member of the Pescadero Education Foundation, giving hours of her time to both organizations. She loves folk dancing and reading and helping her children fulfill their dreams.

Kevin Graham, Jeanie’s husband and Eleanor’s father, may also have something to do with Eleanor’s scientific mind and interest in medicine. Kevin Graham was a biology major at San Jose State University and worked in toxicology at Syntax before leaving to attend chiropractic school. A car accident in 1999 injured him permanently so he can no longer practice. However, he is actively involved in his girls’ lives as a stay-at-home dad.
You may think that Eleanor’s sister Caroline has been overshadowed by her big sister’s accomplishments. Caroline, who turns 14 on June 20, is a star in her own right and just as precocious as her sister. She is an acting enthusiast who took part in her first play in third grade. Caroline says, “It was The Wiz. I was so scared, but I was thrilled to be picked to be a Munchkin. I remember being so proud of the fact that I was the No. 1 Munchkin.”

Since then, she has been involved in productions every year: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in fourth grade and The Last Gladiator in fifth, where she had the female lead. “I was the princess who hated men but ends up marrying the dorky gladiator,” she says. In middle school, she switched to the Coastal Repertory Theatre group where she currently takes acting lessons and has been involved in productions for the last four years.

She also loves to write, which is the direct opposite of Eleanor who says, “I hate writing. That’s not how my brain works. I want everything to be logical.” Caroline wrote beautiful poetry from the time she could pick up a pen. “I used to be into writing poetry but not so much anymore,” she says. “I want to have my first published novel by the time I am 15. I have written 100 pages so far – handwritten. That is a quirk of mine. When I write my ideas by hand and then try to type them, I lose inspiration. The novel is about a boy who is an apprentice to Davy Jones.” Caroline, too, has had academic success. In spite of her dislike of math, she also is a freshman taking Algebra 2 like Eleanor did when she was a freshman. However, Caroline’s dreams tend to lean towards the humanities. She wants to act and write.

When asked if the two sisters with such divergent interest are friends, Caroline’s reply is, “Usually. We totally clashed when I was 11 or 12 and Eleanor was 14 or 15 but now it’s mellow,” she says.

When asked how she raised such different yet motivated girls, Jeanie Graham says: “Kevin and I encouraged them to do their best in school, and try hard for their goals. We coached them if necessary, sometimes nagged them to do their homework, but more often they found their own way. As a parent, I tried to strike a balance between encouraging them and stepping back. That’s probably the hardest part. Mostly, I have tried to set an example for them by working hard myself.”