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Nathan Overmyer

Palmer

ENG 111 (4)

17 September 2018

Studying Under the Influence

“Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” This is a quote

by Charles R. Swindoll that I have lived by almost all of my life. Just like everyone, I

have had my struggles. Some worse than others, but it doesn’t mean success is not an

option. It just means a little more hard work is needed to overcome life's obstacles.

My father laid in his hospital bed with his mother in the room next door. He

wanted to desperately see her as she was nearing the end of her time on Earth, but my

father was too weak. That day was the day I found out my dad, my best friend, my

mentor would be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a debilitating nervous system

disease that affected him severely. The years of 2015 and 2016 proved to be the years

that tested my will to be successful the most. People say good things can come from the

bad and this case was no different. I began to truly discover myself in these hard times.

Poems and quotes became my moral guides in life and math became one of my biggest

hobbies yet. In one year I read two accounting textbooks, and I have the notes to prove

it. I was asked why my education became so important to me suddenly. I was never so

committed to it growing up. I was just your average kid working his way through school

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dreaming of one day taking his spot in the “real world.”

 I became so committed because of the very influences I live with: my parents. My

mother was a college student straight out of high school, but she never finished. She has

since returned at the age of 51, and I cannot express how proud I am of her. My father

dropped out of school at the age of 16 and began to work on a farm. No, he cannot read.

No, he cannot write; but if you needed your car fixed or needed to build something, he

was the man to talk to. So, it’s obvious both my parents were never your poster child

scholars by any means. How could they possibly be my biggest educational influences?

Growing up, every morning my dad would tell me to “steady hard,” and I would always

smirk walking out the door. I could tell it mattered most for him to see me succeed and

come home smarter each day. My mom was the stringent one of course. I needed a C or

above or else I risked being grounded and having technology appropriated. I always saw

this as a direct insult until of course high school when I finally knew why. I finally knew

why my parents wanted me to succeed in school. They wanted me to have a better

chance at success in life than they did. I don’t blame their educational history and

outcomes on them by any means. They reacted as appropriately as possible and truly did

the best they could.

With the resources that I have access to and the circumstances that are

surrounding me, I have a chance of becoming a successful person and doing very well in

not only college but further than that. It’s my parents that have provided me with these

resources. They sacrificed a lot of their time and money for my gain. It was my parents

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that taught me to work with what I have got. The least I could do to thank my parents is

to work towards my success. I will always “steady hard,” and my grades will be a direct
reflection of my hard work. If it weren’t for my parents, I would not be so committed to

the field of education, and my outcome would have been significantly worse.