College Admissions Essay: My Father

A few things that have influenced myself as I am today are my family history and my environment. Growing up, my classes were always fairly easy to me, so naturally I always had a higher than average grade. But when things got harder I started to work harder to maintain my grades. I always felt so accomplished when my mother and father would brag about my grades and intelligence and I wanted to always feel that way. My brother never applied himself in school and I would see how disappointed they were in him and I knew that I only wanted to make them proud. By the time I got to high school I had figured out that no one in my family besides aunts or uncles that were married into the family had ever gone to college and from that point on it was my next big goal to achieve.

Throughout life I’ve experienced a rather unpleasant childhood with the absence of my guiding figures: my parents. Seeing them rush in and out of the house to go to the hospital with my younger brother shaped me in a way nothing else could have. It made me who I am today, as well as aspired me towards what I want to be one day.

All little sisters look up to their big brothers, and I was no exception to the rule. I remember watching my brother Brandon, cheering him on at his high school football games, golf matches, and basketball tournaments. I was only six or seven at the time, so of course I wanted to be just like him. I proudly yelled his name in the bleachers, dressed in his big cotton sweatshirts. My little eyes saw Brandon as a superhero out there, on the courts, fields, and everywhere I saw him. I have forever held that notion in my mind, ultimately holding him on a high pedestal. Even though I regarded him as my utmost favorite human on earth, something happened that changed me and him.

  The  screaming and angry comments are made from a personal state of mind. Parents do and go through more than what most teens could imagine. My grandfather was one. My grandfather, Jesse was a strong, emotionally and physically. Apart from all the laughs and smiles, he is one of the most adventurous men  Ive ever met. To be realistic, no one's life is perfect with only happiness. In his early years, life was pretty rough for him growing up. His life consisted of hard work. He was only human to manage through such horrible events he had to go through. Such adventures formed my grandpa into the strong man he was.

One event that defined a part of my life that involved literacy was when I had to write a

Creativity and art have been a significant parts of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was little and we visited my Grandma Carol in the summers, my favorite thing to do with her was make art. She taught me about so many different media, such as: acrylics, oil pastels, and the ink press. Sometimes, I would bring my sketchbook from home and she would help me set up art shows around her house. I would sell my art for a few dollars each, and then use the little bit of money I earned to buy more art supplies. As she introduced me to more artistic styles and mediums in the

Even though my father never went to college, I have always wanted to go. I knew I wanted to be better and do more than my deadbeat dad did. My father always told me “you are a smart girl”, and to him anything below a C grade wise was utterly unacceptable, well for everyone besides my brother who could never manage more than a D. The amount of punishment he had to endure for that I didn’t want to imagine how much it hurt. I remember the pit in my stomach every time report cards were sent out even though I knew I did well, but the better grades I got the easier it became to keep them up. I thank my father for his strict parenting when it came to education because I know now if I didn’t have rules like that I don’t think I would be where I am now, and better off than him.

From a very early age my Dad had taught me resilience. I didn’t even know what that word was as a little girl, but I knew exactly what it meant. Never giving up. The way your character grows, the different perspective you see things, and the content feeling of accomplishment. My Dad inspires me to go above and beyond expectations, and has always told me to set a goal and go for it. I give him a lot of credit for my academic, and athletic achievements due to him always displaying his hard work ethic, and his involvement in my life.

Annoyed at this, I turned once again and lay on my back. I took a deep

I cannot say that growing up in the family I am in hasn't been difficult for me, because it has. However, to say that it is something I'd like to change if I could, I also cannot say. The turbulence and commotion I have experienced has sculpted my character. Had I not grown up the way I did, I would not be as tenacious and ambitious as I am today. Through the struggles I've faced and whom I've faced them with, I have not let them define me, and I have even grown more because of them.

The connotations associated with living in the south include the idea that family is everything. My family influences a lot of the decisions I make, and through my family I am able to learn a lot about myself. I am given an abundance of opportunities with respect to my family. For example, if it weren’t for my grandparents, I may never have traveled to Colorado and learned what it’s like to be an employee. I owe a lot to my grandparents, especially since they hired me to work in their shop every summer since I was nine. These are the types of special opportunities others don’t have. Opportunities that I cherish each and every day. On my father’s side of the family is where I gain all of my musical knowledge. With a father and a Grandfather

Have you ever had a hero in your life, someone that is always there for you when you need them? I did, I called him "my dad." My dad was the only person that could make me laugh when I was feeling down. My dad was that person who had so much love for his family. My dad was the person who I could call and he'd always pick up. My dad was the person who would drop everything just to help me. My dad was the biggest hero in my life and to this day, still is.

Cohen, S. R. Zeedyk, S. M. Tipton, L. A. Rodas, N. V. Blacher, J. “Fathers of children with or without ID: understanding long-term psychological symptoms,” Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. Apr2016, Vol. 60 Issue 4, p295-307.

"Never forget the past…because it may haunt you forever. Regret all the bad things…cherish the good things. Look ahead always…but don't let the bad things from the past get in your mind." As a young child, there were so many incidents in my life that made me become the person I am today. There were rough times as well as good times. If I were to tell you all of them, I would remember half of them. I think some of my incidents really had some impact, and some were just simple ways of life. To tell you the truth, the incident that had the most impact on me has to be when my real father left me at the age of three. I never knew my father. I mean being a baby, you really have no experience or recognition of somebody else.

My father's protectiveness and selflessness generated at a young age for him. He is the ninth of twelve children, and often told us stories of how he had to look after, and practically raise his three younger siblings after my grandfather had passed. He made certain they completed their chores around my grandmother's farm, maintained good hygiene practices, and kept up with their schoolwork. School was extremely important to my father, because he knew an education was the only way he could be successful.