A story about my fountain pen
This is a story about a Parker Vector fountain pen that my parents got me when I first went to school. That must have been around the year 1998. My parents thought that I need to have a good quality pen so that learning to write is comfortable for me. I remember that it was a big expense for my parents at the time, and I treasured that pen as a kid. So much so, that I remember taking it with me on all school breaks or lunch breaks, so that it never gets stolen or lost. I loved writing with a fountain pen.
Since primary school, I used this same pen in all the stages of my education that followed: junior high school (PL: gimnazjum), high school (PL: liceum), college (PL: studia), and, finally, graduate school (PL: doktorat). It is remarkable for me to think that with this pen I learned how to write, I solved my early algebra exercises, I studied trigonometry, polynomials, and electromagnetism, I wrote my high school examinations (PL: matura), I solved my calculus problems and designed reinforced concrete slabs, and I took notes on fluid dynamics and machine learning. That pen remembers all the journey through my education. And it still works to this day, even though the right tine on the nib is visibly torn compared to the left one (I’m right-handed). The tip of the nib got bent just right for the way I enjoy to write. The cap accidentally cracked, I think somewhere around high school, so since then I use a couple of layers of duct tape to make the cap still fit in tightly. I still love writing with a fountain pen.
On 17 April, 2023, on the day of my graduation from a Ph.D. program, my family bought me a new Parker Sonnet fountain pen as a graduation gift. They didn’t know that I still had the old one. I think it turned out to be a wonderful gift to commemorate the end of my entire education cycle, from primary school to becoming a doctor of engineering. I decided to retire my old Parker Vector pen. Now that my education is over, it feels right to have a new pen for whatever comes next.
