My Dad and I have always had a weird relationship. I love my Dad. I really do. We aren't best friends like some sons and their dads, but we don't hate each other like the other sons and dads out there.
We never connected like my brother and him did. They both ended up being engineers. My dad is a plant manager for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a food processing plant. My brother works for Bosch, a car breaks company. He gets to test drive all the new cars for a specific group of cars. My brother got to enjoy growing up and building things around the house with my Dad. Don't worry I was there, but I was not enjoying myself. I would stand around and help move big pieces of wood when we were building a deck, or move bricks and patches of dug up grass when we were making flower beds in our yard.
As a Communications major my passion is for all things digital. I wanted to grow up and do so many things in that field. First I wanted to be a cameraman at a sports stadium so I could get free tickets to the games. Then it was a sports photographer for the same reason, then I wanted to be a singer, then I wanted to be a professional gamer, then I wanted to be a Youtube star, finally I came to my senses and decided on a real career with possible money in it. I currently am working towards being an on-air radio personality.
As you can see we have two completely different types of people. This makes for some conflicts when it comes to me "helping" him with yard projects, and all those "man" teaching moments. He has tried and tried to teach me to change the oil in my car and rotate my tires and all those other so-called "manly" things.
However, there are many qualities that I emulate from my father. He has always done what is good for the family. The biggest sacrifice he made was right before my junior year of high school. I had been going to school at this district for five years and had many really good friends. My father got a job offer for a huge promotion in his company, however, he would have to move to Texas. Over 15 hours away from the high school I attended in Iowa. He sacrificed so much for me in order for me to stay at my school. He left in September of my junior year and my mother and I soon moved into an apartment in order to save money. I will never stop thanking my father and emulating this quality of his.
Another quality that I emulate is how my father treats my mother. She gets treated like a queen, my Dad always makes sure that she is happy and has told me multiple times, "Happy wife, happy life." I take after him and have treated my fiancee the same exact way.
The last quality I have gained from my father is his incredibly hard work ethic. He works his ass off. Starting at the bottom of his company and working his way up the ladder, he has always made things amazing for my brother and me.
This is why my Dad is the biggest influence on my life and he doesn't know it because these are qualities of a man and not career interests. Despite all of our differences I can thank my dad for the man I have become.
