My father always talks about the times when he served in the military, sharing his struggles and the perseverance it took to stay motivated during harsh times and grueling training. One of the stories that really stuck with me was when my father was attending basic training, he got injured and had to go to the hospital for a hernia. When he returned back to training, his platoon was doing a training exercise called the confidence course. The course consisted of pushing soldiers past their boundaries and having them face the things they feared most, but my father was told to sit out due to his injury. Even though his fear of heights restricted him of doing things most would find fun, watching his fellow soon to be soldiers face their fears built up his determination to persevere and complete the training regardless of his injury. So my father asked his Drill Sergeant for permission, and while he was still told that he wasn't permitted to complete the training, his Sergeant told him that he wouldn't stop my father either. With this determination in mind my father leapt into action and did what he thought, even after thirty five years, was the scariest thing in his life. He had to climb up a telephone pole and walk across two by fours to another platform while up twenty-five to thirty-five feet in the air. After that, he had to climb up a ladder with a rope hanging three feet away. My father told me that as he had to reach, his knees were shaking and his palms were sweating as he tried to not look down at the steep drop below him. The pressure of his Drill Sergeant yelling at him was only adding onto the stress, and with a small prayer my father let go of the ladder and leapt towards the rope. As he worked his way down the last ladder, my father told me how free he felt after facing one of his worst fears. While this may have not been a difficult task for some, it was one of the worst things my father had to endure because he is terrified of heights. Why this story stuck with me so much is because even though he was injured and severely afraid of heights, my father still completed the training because he knew it would prepare him for the future. His perseverance has taught me a lot in life, not only to overcome my own fears but, to take the risks and opportunities in life because the experience can help you grow. My father always tells me he thinks back on this memory when he had to face something he feared, saying the victory always carries him through difficult situations. Being raised by a veteran has taught me many things, but the most my father has shown me is to always take a leap of faith. In life we either control our fears, or they control us forever, stopping us from becoming our best selves.

Throughout my life I have dealt with several challenges, being raised by a veteran I was always taught to work through challenges. After the death of my grandfather, my grandmother was left alone with a diminishing memory and worsening dementia. As the years passed by and I began high school, I had taken a huge role in being a part time caretaker for my grandmother. While that concept may seem like endearing and sweet, the truth about dementia isn’t very pretty. Throughout my life school seemed to provide the only escape out of a chaotic household that consisted of hearing the same five sentences being repeated constantly like a broken record. Attempting to balance a high GPA and good grades without a solid platform to learn on my own time proved to be a constant struggle that seemed hopeless at times. Most people have a home to relax at, an escape from the stress and exhaustion brought from a days work, but for me that was stripped away. As years passed in this situation, my grandmother’s conditioned worsened by the months causing this part time care situation to become full time. With this constant care requirements my parents soon grew tired and exhausted, so I took it upon myself to help whenever I could. Most nights our family had grown short tempered with my grandmother, only escalating the tense situation which is why I promised to watch her so they could escape. Though this may seem like a tragic story, I feel I have grown from the experience and have learned things most my age haven’t. Being a caretaker requires patience and understanding, and while my grandmother may have held me back from many things I wanted to do in my youth I never blamed her. Now that I have grown up, and it’s been awhile since she passed this January, I realize how much this experience taught me. I used to look down on it with distaste, feeling as if I was somehow robbed of my childhood. I had so much resentment bottled up inside my core that I failed to realize how much this experience has prepared me better for life. I now have matured so much that not only have I developed adaptability, I have learned several key skills for handling stressful situations. Though most couldn’t really comprehend the effects this difficult challenge really had on my mental health and childhood, I was still able to overcome this challenge and am now graduating high school with 3.7 unweighted gpa and I am pursuing my dream career.