College Essay

My Father, My Hero
My father was an extraordinary person. It was not easy to tell from his personality or his behavior, but he had a flare for life. He was somebody who stood by me during the difficult moments when my mother had trouble supporting me by herself.
My family used to tell me that I had a unique quality about me. After my father died, I didn’t really feel so special anymore. I was just another person.
My father lived in the “good old days” as he would call them, when family values were at the forefront of society. Back then, all you needed to get ahead in the world was a high school diploma and if you were lucky, you got a family. When I told him of all the standards being raised, I think deep down he was more overwhelmed than I was. He was old-fashioned; he did not know the meaning of the word quit. This proved to be something he would have trouble accepting as he approached his end.
One night my father was in the hospital. It pained me to see him suffer, but he told me that there was no need to worry. He later told me though that someday there would be a time where I would have to hardship. A month later he passed away, all too soon. The family turned to me as an emotional outpost of grief and for the first time I felt that it was important to take control and accept responsibility.
At first it was chaotic seeing the sad faces and hearing the cries of grief among my family. The only thing that got me through the pain was the lasting images of my father and how he shaped the world that I really see. I was the only one he spent a whole lot of quality time with and it benefited me in my work habits. He was not one to have strong beliefs about any particular topic it’s what made him unique to me, just as he thought I always had that something special that made people like me. After he left I realized that his struggle was passed on to me, the pain of control being a burden too big for one person.
He was not a very philosophical man, but he taught me more about life with words than teachers, books, and doctors. His accomplishments inspired me to realize my dreams. To do something with meaning that can excite me.
I want to be an accountant I want to understand what numbers really mean. Being in the work world, I realized just how important money was and what my father had meant about work all these years. He said that money could not buy you love and happiness, but it is a start. I know that going to college would be his proudest accomplishment, but it would not be mine. My biggest accomplishment would be to find a way to find my own personal happiness through my love of business and my family. Then I can be just like my hero, and he’s looking down on me now.