Role Model

A role model should be someone you look up to, someone you aspire to be like and someone who sets by example rather than watching others and following their lead. Someone in my life that has always been a role model for is my father. Whenever I have needed advice whether it be work related, career related, goal oriented or even something so simple as girls, he has been there to help me a guide me. Through the roughest points in my life my dad has always managed to be that figure that unquestionably sets by example and has core values that he has never strayed away from. I look at my father and yes, I feel that although career wise we make be two different seeds, just based on my initial disinterest in accounting, but personality wise we are two peas in a pod. My mother has always told me how difficult it is to be around both of us at the same time when we get in our "moods" because of how similar we are when we react to situations or get frustrated.

My father's background is quite interesting and although he grew up in such a large family he always had dreams of his own and was goal oriented from the beginning. He is the second oldest of 6 siblings and has come from a very fun loving, animated group that is very close. He was born on the West side of Chicago and in his early year his family moved to Elmhurst and then to Arlington Heights for the remainder of his life where he truly grew up. His father (my Papi) was a mechanical engineer with genius in his blood. My father's mother (my Nana) worked for the Chicago Tribune and was well known in Arlington Heights. My father went to private school from elementary through high school and was a great athlete. He learned a lot of his leadership qualities and how to work within groups through sports and like me he is highly competitive.

His college career started at University of Illinois where he attended for two years studying engineering. Obviously following his father's footsteps, he realized this was not the career for his and left U of I after two years of study. He changed his major to accounting and moved up to Northern Illinois' campus to continue his education. Life was not easy putting himself through school with no support from his parents. He had to work full time and in the summer as well to keep stability in his life. After graduating he went and attained his CPA and was then on his way to begin his career.

When I asked him what made him want to go to school and why like some of your friends, did you not stick around and enjoy the college life any longer. He explains that ever person has goals that they set for themselves. Sometimes people just don't have the drive to follow through but he wanted more out of life and knew that to get to where he wanted to be he had to get through school and had to forget about his friends. He had to take a step back and look at what he really wanted to accomplish out of life from having a family to being able to provide stability in his life. He would constantly ask himself what it to be successful and try to set goals for himself, to get to the point he felt equaled success.

I look up to my father because he has always been able to overcome adversity, put family first and be a genuine, warm hearted person while still managing to achieve what many would consider success. Once he graduates he went into public account to start out with Arthur Young which was part of the big 8 at the time.