I Am Thankful For The Dad

Education is very important to my parents and it is not just a means of obtaining a good job in the future, but it serves as a way to get respect and social standing in a world that is so heavily focused on societal and class statuses. Being the first generation to have gone onto higher education, the pressures, put on by my family, can sometimes be overwhelming. In fact, at times I think my parents are more excited and ready for me to graduate than I am, which can be quite comical.

My parents think of themselves as primarily self-sufficient. Because of this, we live on the peak of a hill in the middle of nowhere, far away from the hustle and bustle of our old home in the city. Although this is their ideal life, they realized that it may prevent me from expanding my own horizons. They have always encouraged me to follow my interests, even when it meant moving away from home at sixteen to go to college. Throughout my entire childhood, they have done everything in their power to ensure that I am prepared for the future. I believe that my parents have crafted me into a well-rounded individual by proving to me that any person can define their own version of success.

Growing up in a Hispanic household has its ups and downs. As a first generation Latina, I have family members that are always encouraging me, wanting the best for me, and pushing me to succeed in life so that I don't go through the same hardships that they went through. I have seen struggles my parents have gone through to get to where they are now, but giving it their all to giving my siblings and I the best.

My parents grew up in families with little parental direction. Attending school, overcoming adversity, getting a job and becoming successful were up to their own making. Although my parents did not go to college, they took advantage of other opportunities to better their lives so that my siblings and I would be able to attend universities. They worked hard to get jobs even without college degrees, and then worked harder to maintain those jobs; subsequently, this furthered their positions in their workplaces. By setting an example of making the most of what life has to offer, they influenced me to seize every opportunity that crosses my path. Going to college was not an opportunity my parents could take advantage of, but it is one that I can.

For eighteen years now my parents have influenced me to do my best in academics and extracurricular activities. Both of my parents have gone to college and both have had successful careers. My dad was a highly recognized Police Chief for Waukesha County and is now on 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.

I was always a precocious child, yet argumentative and rebellious. I did not want to accomplish anything following a pattern set for me. I wanted to forge my own way. This determination set me at odds with my mother, and has defined our relationship all these years. It has surely led me down my own irregular path in life, and placed me in position to be the family’s black sheep.

They are the only ones I have unconditional support and are my reason to succeed in life. My parents gave up so much for us at a young age and didn’t get to enjoy nor acquire a higher education due to financial problems, and I am utterly proud of how far they’ve come and all their successes. They came from nothing to living the life they desired when they were young, having to sacrifice absolutely everything just for their children. For that reason I want to succeed in everything possible to make them proud and just let them enjoy the life they deserve and that I will gladly provide one day

My parents want nothing more than for me to be successful in my life. For example, they did not think that they were going to have enough money to send me and my brothers through college, so my mother decided that she was going to go back to school so she could become a successful lawyer. She did that and she finished second in her graduating class. She now has a high ranking job and my parents feel confident that they will be able to get the four of us through school somehow.

That there would be difficult moments where I would have to work my way up and work hard for the things that I wanted to accomplish. They always encouraged me to keep moving forward with new dreams to accomplish one after another. My parents did all this because they wanted a better future for me than the future that they had for themselves at first. I say at first because today my parents have proved to me that anything is possible. My father might not have completed school but he is exceptionally intelligent as a business agent, including being the best of the best in his own job. And my mother, what can I not say about her. She proved to me that it is never too late to accomplish your dreams by going to college and obtaining her G. E. D., and knowing her she will most likely continue to a degree. Seeing all the things that they can accomplish makes me proud to be their daughter because they bring me hope. Them having lofty standards for me, allowed me to keep working harder for my dreams and even setting high standards for myself. A 70% on my report cards or even progress reports were not permitted by my parents at all. And if they did appear, I had better be prepared for the big trouble that I was going to be in. As a child, I didn 't really understand what all the fuss was about. But then I realized, the reason why my parents insisted on me having such high grades as I do now was that they were looking

My mom had routinely reminded my sister and me of the rules. No running, no throwing rocks, no shouting, no walking behind a horse, and “Get in front. Take the lead.” I had only half listened with a childlike inattentiveness. Like most children, I wasn’t being willfully disobedient, but I wasn’t giving her my undivided attention either. My thoughts were on riding and climbing on the hay bales after my lesson. Although our mom reminds us of the rules each week, we often had to be reminded throughout the day. During those days, I relied on my mom’s wisdom and attentiveness to watch over us, and discounted my own responsibility for my behavior or for looking out for my

As a child, I was quiet and withdrawn. I taught myself to read when I was three, and spent most of my time reading instead of playing with other children. I understood very early that I was different from others at school. I didn’t have to pay for lunch, something I found (and to be honest, still find) completely mortifying. My father was almost never home, always trucking all over the country in an effort to keep our family afloat. When other kids talked about their dads in school, I often found myself feeling jealous. I, too, wanted a dad who could teach me how to ride a bike or throw a ball. I also understood that it was impossible for me to have that, because my father worked around the clock to keep my family from going hungry. I realized that in order to achieve the things that I wanted to, i would have to take the initiative and do it myself. I borrowed my sister’s bike (although it was much too tall for me to use comfortably), and I practiced riding it until i knew i was better at it than any other 7 year

My parents have been separated since I was young but they each remind me of how they both graduated from college with Bachelor’s degrees and how important it is that I further my education. Dropping out is not an option and when I graduated from high school it was mandatory that I enrolled to a college before looking for a job. It can be tough when a parent demands a lot from you but in the end it can also benefit you because you’re able to take pride in your accomplishments.

The relationship I have with my family, specifically my dad would be better with enhanced trust. For about six years my dad did not live with the rest of the family in Canada, instead he lived in Nigeria. My parents were not divorced, but he wanted to live in Nigeria while we wanted to live in Canada. We would visit him on and off like during the summer and he would come here to Canada and stay for a couple of weeks. In 2012, he decided to stay here and live with us. But for the past three years, many things have changed around the house. Our routine is completely different and it's hard to keep track. It's not like I don't trust my father it's just that he has not been there for me all the time, so it's hard for me to just easily trust him. I'm so used to relying on my mother for many things and I still do till this day. This is an important relationship to me and we need to enhance trust so that we can keep this family going. My father is a good person, but I still can't easily trust him all the time. Trusting my dad will just benefit both of us, but our entire family. In general the relationships with my family. He is an example of a relationship that would benefit

My time in High School was made difficult from the constant strife and conflict between my parents. This made my home an unstable environment not fitted for learning or growing as an individual. As I got older and closer to graduating High-School, I began to find my own voice with the help of my mentor Rahn Fleming, which occurred at the end of my junior year. As a result, I came in control of my life and the constant feuding started to die down. No longer did I have to worry about the next scheduled court date, or the next time I would come home wondering what may await. I felt like I was always walking on broken glass for the longest of time throughout my life, until I began to voice myself and what I wanted. My parents came to realize this