There are a multitude of influential males within my life that I greatly appreciate and look up to. However, there is only one who has truly made me the young man I am today. The greatest influence toward my life and goals would be my father. A man I hold to a higher standard than most and greatly appreciate. One of my father's dreams or rather goals was to become a mechanical engineer. He has always been the most intellectual person I know. In high school, my dad had the third highest in SAT scores for his school. He became a national merit scholar and had several colleges looking at him sending out scholarship offers. My dad had many great qualities and was very smart but he had a 2.0 GPA. This was due to him having a zero homework average and an A test average. When the colleges saw this they revoked their offers concluding that he lacked the discipline and work ethic to succeed. .
Two years later or so, my dad found himself in college not as a student, but as a janitor. I'm sure many people can understand the struggle. This is sadly a common theme amongst many high school students. I know, so much potential but it is wasted. My dad eventually met my mom a few years later, and they had me. He has always said to me "when I had you I changed my life for the better" and he sure did. Within in the next eight years my dad went from part time janitor to a District Manager for a major company and responsible for a four state territory working hard to become successful in life. He had surpassed his dream and made exponentially more money than he would as a mechanical engineer. .
Although my dad had made a great achievement he wanted more and decided he wanted to finish what had started. He went to college with the help of my step mom and graduated with a bachelor's degree. My dad worked extremely hard to get his bachelor's degree day in and day out. I saw him studying and working vigorously.