There is something a bit nostalgic about having a role model. Most of us have had a role model since we were young kids. I guess mine were the Disney princesses, since all I ever watched where my Disney movies, but what young child didn't watch them?

But as I grew older, I began to understand what it meant to have a role model. To have a role model is having someone to look up to. Someone who resembles what you want to be like as you grow older.

My role models would have to be my mother and my father, they are by far the most amazing people I have ever come to look up to. I know it can be considered a bit cliche to think of your own mother and father as your role models, but they have taught me and showed me so much. My mother's side of the family is known for being headstrong women, and most of us live by the motto "I am a strong independent woman, who don't need no man." And my dad is the one who gets his hands dirty.

I personally am a very quiet person, I never really considered myself to be an extrovert. I mostly kept to myself and have continued to keep to myself, it's just my personality. Growing up, I was the same way, very quiet and reserved. I liked to watch the people around me. Some of those people I closely watched were my mother and my father. For a time in my mom's life, she was a cosmetologist, but then she began to take care of those who suffer from different disorders. As a child, I was never allowed to go to my friends' houses and was very closely watched by both my parents. Not because my parents didn't trust anyone, I was just their baby (also I am the youngest in the family).

Anyway, there where times when I had to go with my mom to work. She used to work in a house with young men who suffered from multiple disorders. It was my mom's job to make sure they were properly cared for. Many times, I just sat there and watched her take care of these individuals. I could see the love she had for her job--it's her passion to help people. To this day she still does the same thing, but it is just a different job. There have been many times where I have asked her, "Mom, why do you like your job?" and her responses are always the same, "I love to help people, and I have the passion to do it. I love it and I wouldn't change a thing to not do it." All my mother does is she talks about how much she loves to help people, and I want that same passion my mom has to help people, maybe not in the same way, but in a way where I can make a difference.

My dad has taught me so much. Just like my mom, I constantly watched him too, never saying a word. My father has always been known as the handy man, and was once called "Handy Manny," like the Disney cartoon. My father is a very stubborn man, once he sets his mind to something nothing will stop him to getting to where he needs to go. Looking up to him, I have always noticed how determined he is to get something done. The part I look up to the most is how hardworking my dad is. How determined he becomes when he wants to get something done.

Although it is a bit cliche to say both of my parents have been my role models, as I continue to grow up I see them in me, I see that I have that love and caring heart my mom has, but I also have that determination and stubbornness from my father. I have come to realize the people I watched closely growing up were my parents, I am growing up to be very much like them and I am OK with that. It's OK if your role models are your parents, because they are most definitely mine.