Personal Essay

Endurance

One February morning, I remember opening my eyes and seeing all the snow on the ground from the night before. If that wasn’t exciting enough, I then realized I had no school due to February vacation. Impatiently, I recall running downstairs, and rambling into the kitchen in which my dad was sitting at the table. As normal, I tugged at my dads shirt and said, “ Daddy, let’s go play in the snow.” For the first time, my little six-year-old ears heard the words “Not right now sweetie, Daddy’s busy.” Astonished, I climbed onto the kitchen table chair and looked at what could have possibly been more vital than playing with me. My eyes fell upon half a dozen open books covering my kitchen table. I couldn’t comprehend how these dull, picture less, books were important enough to off-set our normal routine.

Not expecting to be rejected twice, I said ”How about now?” To my surprise, again he said,” Amber, Daddy can’t right now. Maybe when Mommy gets home from work she’ll go play with you.” Disgusted, I sat back in the chair, cross armed and said,

“ I’m mad at you Daddy.“ At that moment, my father could see the disappointment in my eyes. He knew I loved how much time I had been spending with him the past few days since he was laid off from work. I looked forward to this school vacation because I knew during the day my mom would go off to work and my father could stay at our house and play with me, which was something I wasn’t used to.

My father, trying to better the situation, reached his arms out to me and said, “ I need some help. Can you help me please?” After hesitating for a second, I agreed and went to him. He sat me on his lap and placed a book in front of me. He pointed to a word and said “ Do you know what that says?” Dumbfounded, I answered “ No.” He replied “ Me either.” Confused, I asked “What are you doing?” He said, “I’m doing homework.” Even more baffled, I said, “ Daddy, you’re to big to do homework.” My father then went on to explain to me a story. He told me about when he was younger and in school he never paid attention. He didn’t feel the need to. He hardly ever went to his assigned classes, and when he did, he barely listened to his teachers. He told me that when he was about fourteen years old, he stopped going to school and went to work with his father. He described how this was one of the biggest mistakes in his life. “Amber, you need to make a promise to me that you’ll always do your school work and pay close attention in school. I know its hard, but you have to always at least try. I didn’t and I have to go to school again now. I only want what’s best for you and Mommy and I cant do that without going to school.”

It became clear to me that my father was trying to explain how he only wanted what was best for me. He didn’t want me to have to do what he was doing, he would rather see me excel in life. My father was ashamed of the fact that he could no longer provide for his family due to his lack of education.

An influential person is someone who has reached out and affected or changed another person’s life in some way. There are only certain characteristics that a person can obtain, that prominently stand out and influence a person’s life. The most important, easily being endurance. That is exactly what my father proved he possessed on that day. My father showed me the regret he had for the foolish path he choose for his life. But, not letting that stop him he showed how much he cared about my mother and I, and how much he wanted to better himself so he could provide for us, by going back to school at the age of twenty-nine. My father progressed and grew into the field of business, where he obtained a career as an executive manager for a local bank. He proved to me and his family that he could make something out of himself, and that everyone gets a second chance.

From that day on, my father has been the biggest influence in my life. He has showed me that anything is possible and nothing can stop you. Anytime I feel that school is to stressful and tiring for me to handle, I always think about how my Dad, and the struggles he faced with school. He never gave up, even though it was not always easy.