Influential Person in My Life, Essay Example

The Earth is a beautiful, colorful, and lively place filled with land, water, humans, and animals that animate it. Such beauty can be found in the non-living and living entities that occupy this planet. Indeed, anthropogenic activities have profoundly impacted life on Earth, and unequivocally humans directly impact one another as well. Babies are born into the world with a tabula rasa, and they are shaped by their environment and other externalities. As a child grows, he or she is shaped by their surroundings, usually directly by their parents when socialization commenced. While adulthood is characterized by one’s own choices, the contours of adolescence is shaped by parental decisions and influences. I was fortunate enough to have a mother who was strong-willed, talented, and willing to sacrifice for others, even though her life was cut short when I was relatively young.

When I was only fifteen years old, my mother succumbed to terminal cancer, which left a huge void in my family with her lost. Ironically, her absence prompted me to reflect on her values, attitudes, lifestyle, and aspirations. She was very hard working despite the rampant sexism she faced during medical school in the 1970s. She was one of five women in her medical school, and, despite overt sexism she faced, she graduated at the top of her class and successfully started a private practice that thrived throughout her work there. My mother had a very big heart, and despite the fact that she came from a poor family, she was motivated to overcome any and all obstacles whether they be financial or educational. Despite the obstacles she faced growing up, she also helped raise her three siblings in order to instill important values for them in order to succeed in the future.

My mother placed high value on education throughout her life. Even when we hit difficult financial times, she always stressed to me that education was of the utmost importance in order to achieve success. As such, I was a diligent student throughout my grade school and high school career. With the support of my mother, despite the fact that she was sick for the majority of my young adulthood, encouraged me to pursue my dreams no matter how many obstacles stand in the way. The influence she had on my life made a profound difference in my life. While my education has opened up various avenues for me to pursue a career in pedagogy, my mother is the one person who set an example for me to emulate through her tumultuous battle with cancer. I treat others how I want to be treated, and I am so happy I had a mother who embodied values of a good and successful person in this day and age.