What do you want to do with your life? Some of us are still pondering that question in middle age. But for others, the answer comes sooner. A New England high school student’s small woodworking project won a regional competition and points to her future goals.
Eighteen year-old Destiny Desroches of Tilton, New Hampshire, won the 6th Annual New England Student Woodworking Design Competition with a jewelry box project. She had placed in the competition in the first three of her high school years, but this was the first time she took the grand prize. According to Casondra Marden’s online article, Desroches, her parents, and her woodworking instructor were all very excited about it.
Desroches has previously placed in the competition with a nightstand, dresser, and armoire in her freshman, sophomore, and junior years, respectively. Each of those placed in second or third. She was offered $1,500 for the armoire but declined, preferring to keep it in her room.
The jewelry box was made of real wood rather than plywood with little machinery other than small power tools. Because real wood is harder to work with, she had to enlist some of her male classmates to help her with the muscle work. She used a jig to bend the wood and create the framing and a skeleton to build the project around.
Desroches plans to pursue woodworking as a career. She started it in an elective class in eighth grade and soon fell in love with it, claiming that she feels that she was born to be a woodworker and wishes she could spend all her time in the wood shop. She plans to move from small woodworking projects to rebuilding houses in the future. She will attend Virginia Tech this fall.
With her four prize-winning projects and love of woodworking, this young woman’s future plans seem to be well grounded. If only all of us could be that sure of what to do with ourselves.
