As the day goes by and
the sun sets, night starts and brings darkness with it, but then the moon comes to take over the darkness and brings memory
along. As long as I can remember the most influential person is my father; all the hard work he has
done for me has a major role in my life. He is very kind and very comprehensible. My father is a very loving, intelligent,
social and competent person. He is a great worker and successful. He is still working a full time job and sometimes more than
that although now he has less energy.
My father is a tall and handsome man. He is forty-four years old now. He has seven children. He is very patient. He
has many friends. He got his education in Pakistan where he studied to be a teacher. After becoming a teacher and teaching for a
while, he won the lottery fifteen years ago. After winning the visa ticket, he came here to the United States fifteen years ago.
When he came here, he did not have a job; he could not speak English. Like other newcomers to America, he worked at gas
stations and grocery stores day and night. Then he became a worker for a senior center helping the handicapperd.
My father's social behavior and life was changed by many events. He got married in a very traditional
way. His father died so his older brother followed the traditions and old belief. Traditionally, the young men and the
young women are not free to choose a spouse for themselves. They do not have the right to go through a courtship stage so
they do not have a chance to get to know each other. In the village sometimes the young man and the young woman meet for first
time on their wedding night. After getting married and having children he did not continue his education. His children
are his hope for the future. He wants his children to be educated and he never gives up supporting them. He works hard
to do anything for his children to make sure they will succeed in their education and their goals.
My father never gives up for his children. My family does not live in great wealth and he spends
money very carefully. However he buys everything and whatever supplies we need for the school. I am so proud of my father and very deeply thankful because he sends me to school even though his
family was against him. In my family the females do not go to school. My family and people in the village believed
that men should go to school and study order to find a better job. But the women were not to go to school because they should
stay home and be housewives. So therefore they do not need to go to school. I was the first girl who went to school, and broke
the traditions. My father sends me to school because he wants me to be educated in order to have an easy life and a better
future.
My father knew that education is very important for the future. He knows that knowledge is a treasure that no one can steal
from you. Now I have to work hard, succeed for my father, and repay him for what
he has done for me, and in order to make him proud and happy for all his hard work. That is why he has been the major influence
in my life.
