In most people’s lives, there is always that one person who is in their corner. Whether it be a parent, teacher, friend, or for some adults, their children, there is always someone who is there to stick up for them, or just be there for them in their darkest moments but help them out of it when they need it most. For me, this person is my father. 

Growing up, I wasn’t as close to my father as I was to my mother. However, as time went on, and as significant things occurred in my life, the one person who was always there for me was my father. If I had a rough day at school, a horrible practice, or a horrible race, rather than prying with a bunch of questions, he simply sat there, listened, and gave advice on the matter while acknowledging how I felt. 

For me, my father is one of the most dedicated people in my life. My dad wakes up at 5 a.m. to make my lunch, goes to all of my cross country or track races (even if it means he has to rearrange his schedule), and helps me come up with story ideas or questions for interviews in The Quill. He is even the one who helped encourage me to join The Quill, too!

If I bring home a bad grade, he never yells, or even raises his voice at me for that matter. He just brings up the topic, and asks what went wrong during the quiz or test or how I could’ve prepared differently. My dad never makes me feel less of a person or even stupid, for getting something wrong, or getting a bad grade. Although he emphasized the importance of grades when I was growing up, he never explicitly yelled at me when I got bad grades after I moved onto my middle school and high school years. When it comes to time management, however, he becomes very stern. Time management is something that is constantly reinforced into my life and important to nail down, to not only be successful in high school, but life in general. And (unsurprisingly), he was right! Time management is something that I have to utilize everyday just to get to bed in time so that I can get at least 5 to 6 hours of sleep for practice. 

My dad is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met and (annoyingly) one of the most modest people I know. My dad never spends money on himself and his number one focus in his life is to me, and providing me the life that he’s never had. And through all of his hard work and determination, that is something he has succeeded in. 

Through leading by example, those are things that I will forever hold dear in my memories about my father long after he’s gone: his hard work ethic and how much he cares about me. So thank you, Dad, for all that you do.