Simply put my dad is the strongest, most caring person I know. He is the reason I strive to be the best parent I can be, because even as a single father he didn't leave me lacking for anything. I knew of his hardships but I didn't understand at my young age. I can look back now and see his sacrifices to make my life and my brothers the best he could. He juggled being a singe father, helping my brother pay for vehicles, getting me the things I most wanted on my Christmas list all with a smile even though he was living pay check to pay check. He was unable to graduate high school as a boy due to the need to help on the family farm. No one in our family had gone to college and I remember as a little girl seeing him work so hard for everything we had that I wanted nothing more than to be just like him and to make him proud. I remember saving every penny I made, just as he taught me to buy my first car all by myself. I remember enrolling in nursing school and seeing the pride in his eyes because I was now the first one to go to college in our family. I remember telling my dad, that some day I'd be a doctor and here I am 7 years after graduating with my masters in nursing returning to school to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. One more step and I'll pursue my doctorate in nursing practice. I may not be a doctor in the traditional sense but my dad taught me that I don't need to follow the normal and if I work hard, I can obtain anything. To this day, I can see pride in my dads eyes or hear it in his voice when someone asks what his daughter does for a living. He's so proud to say I'm a nurse and have been for 10 years. He's so proud to say I have my master's and am going back to school for my nurse practitioner. This scholarship would help me achieve the one last step before I can continue on and obtain my doctorate in nursing practice. I can't wait for the day I tell my dad that my title is "doctor". Although, the acronyms behind my name mean little to me as I'm not above others who don't have them it means everything to me to work hard and show the world and mostly my dad that I can do anything. He taught me how to believe in myself, showed me how much hard work pays off, and has helped me through every struggle in my life all while struggling himself. He is my inspiration and one of my best friends even now in my 30s. I want to teach my children the things he taught me and be the inspiration for them to reach all of their goals in life.