Scott Alan's Life-Personal Narrative

White winter snow covered the top of Saginaw General Hospital on Cooper Street. Fierce winds blew all around Wellington Eckert and Betty Lou as they made the trek to the snow-covered building. The two gladly welcomed their second son to the family, Steven Mark Baird, on March 27, 1957. Scott Alan, Steve’s two-year-old older brother, realized with the arrival of Steve he was no longer the star of attention. The family then continued to grow with the arrival of Andrew David three years later.

The family of five lived in a house on Oak Street in Saginaw, Michigan. Steve shared a room with Scott. There was a twin bed on either side of the room, with a window facing their backyard. From the window, you could see an open field of green grass, where Steve and his brother would pretend to go fishing, and play every sport one could imagine. Their bedroom had a series of shelves with models on them. This was the soul of the room. Zombies, monsters, boats, cars, you name it, the shelves carried them all. They had airplane models hanging from the ceiling, all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some of his favorites included the B38 Thunderbolt and the Freedom Fighter. Small and cozy, this is where Steve grew up alongside his brothers.

Steve was only four years old when he began to
Steve knew two people who he would continue to look up to until he stepped exactly where they had been before him. His neighbor, Jerry Hoffmeister, was a student at General Motors Institute , and every time he came back home, Steve would sit and listen to Jerry talk for hours at a time. Jerry told Steve how the entire co-op program worked. He talked about working on different jobs, such as finance, production, and engineering. Working at General Motors helped pay for college, so Jerry didn’t have to pay a thing. General Motors was one of the hardest schools to get into, and it’s what inspired Steve to do well in