People who influence you really help in the way you go about your life. They help you to strive in the face of adversity to one day be like them, if not better. This may sound like a cliché, but my biggest influence in life is my daddy. All throughout my life, I have been told I resemble my father. Whenever my father’s friends visit, they already assume I am his son due to the similarity in our appearances, making me wonder if this is a coincidence or not. I really admire my dad for many reasons, but the main reasons are because of his hard work and dedication, accompanied by the diligence he possesses.
My father, even though he is more comfortable now in terms of his social status now, wasn’t always set for success in the beginning. His father was a trader with three wives and numerous children who weren’t given adequate attention by their father. My father loved school, which was what really saved him and enabled him to break out of the chain of poverty. This love was set back by having insufficient money to pay for his school fees. This was a big blow for him, but instead of letting this hinder him from graduating, he then devised a way to overcome this challenge. He decided to periodically meet with his father to plead with him to give him the amount for the fees in bits until he was able to save up to be able to get his education. This process was not instant and took about two and a half years, but he was eventually able to save enough. At a point before college, the money he had earlier saved, became exhausted forcing him to look for a job to pay for his college school fees. This took another two years before he was finally able to attend college and graduate as the best student in his department.
The first time I heard this story, I burst into tears. I couldn’t fathom how it must have been to have gone through all of that without losing hope of what the future had in store for him. I always keep this story at the back of my mind whenever I may feel lazy or may be tempted to procrastinate as a means of motivation. All the experiences he went through have made him compassionate and made him decide to give back to the community where he came from by sponsoring less fortunate children that were in the same situation as him, not having enough money to pay their school fees. He does all of this still having time devoted to his family by going out for dinners, traveling, and going to the country club for nice evening swims.
I am proud of my father and what he has been able to accomplish despite all the setbacks he faced throughout life and it inspires me to emulate him.