The Person who Influenced My Life

From my childhood, my father exercised such a remarkable influence on my life that even after his premature death in 1996, my character was being shaped by the values he had instilled in me. By the way, who was my father? He was a mere farmer who never went to school. Surprisingly, despite his illiteracy, he had made proof of a broad spirit. For instance, during his life, he taught me to pursue education, discipline and excellence on one hand; and on the hand, he taught me to detest mediocrity. Moreover, he always made me known that nothing is impossible, as long as I set aside time, energy, patience and perseverance. Another advice he told me to never forget during my lifetime was: “try always to top the list in every competition’’. Although he died twelve years ago, his principles have constituted the key of my success.
At school, I always managed to be on time in order to follow all the explanations of my teachers. I set up my own strategies to study in such a way to give the best results. Each time a new situation was coming up, I adapted my strategies to it. As a result, I always showed very good academic performance. Thereby, I gained the appreciation of several people, included my teachers, my classmates and my family. My father always awarded me for my excellent academic performance; hence I did always all that I could to top the list.
At sixteen, I completed my primary study and I had to begin my secondary study in a private school. Upon my arrival at the new school, I distinguished myself among the other pupils through the best scores I had for all the classes. As a matter of fact, I was granted half a scholarship by the Director of the school.
My father was still alive during my two first years at secondary school, but his death came up at the beginning of my third year. That had happened before I reached enough maturity to lead my destiny. However the seeds he sowed beforehand in my young heart brought valuable fruits. Thanks to sacrifices combined with discipline, self-denial, patience and perseverance, I completed my undergraduate study in Agronomy at the State University of Haiti two years ago; and I will start my graduate program in Environmental Engineering in a U.S. university through a scholarship awarded by the Fulbright program.