The person that has most influenced my life is my father. Although he never finished high school himself, my dad stressed the value of education to my brother and me and encouraged us to go to college so that more opportunities would be available to us than he had. I admire my dad greatly, because he has always lived the way he urged us to live. School was not just something that he preached to us about but didn't believe in himself. He went on to get his GED after his time in the Army, demonstrating that he really did believe in the value of education. Whenever school seems tough for me, I remember him bent over his textbooks at the kitchen table after a hard day's work and think about how much harder it must have been for him to get his education than it is for me.
Another thing I value about my dad is the work ethic he instilled in us. My father never used work time to take care of his personal business or sit idle. He worked hard as a police officer and felt a responsibility to use his work time for the purpose it was intended. Regardless of what others did, my dad always did his job. He didn't talk on the phone, play games, or try to avoid the tasks that no one wanted to do. He pulled his weight. Although I am only 18 years old, I have already seen many people who do not feel they need to honor their work time as my dad did; his sense of honor makes him stand out above them all.
Finally, my father is a man of integrity. He made church the center of our lives from the time we were children, and he dedicated himself to our family instead of to hobbies or outside friends. Other men my age have been involved in violence and other kinds of trouble, and I believe I have escaped that because of my father's strong moral influence in my life. We were taught to live according to Christian principles, so we understood the difference between right and wrong from an early