My parents have always encouraged me to do well in school and to get as much education as I can. They’ve tried to instill in me the importance of an education. An education is something that no one can ever take away from you. It’s an investment in you. It’s a necessity if you want a good job, but it’s also a necessity if you want to reach your full potential. What we are do now in school is helping us grow and expand our knowledge as well as exposing us to new ways of thinking. This exposure helps us so much. We learn that we like and don’t like. We learn what we agree with and what we believe. Most importantly, we learn why we believe certain things. All this helps us learn who we are and what we can do.

When I worked at Circuit City, I used to study during my breaks. One of my managers saw me studying with my sign language book one day and made the remark that she always wished that she had made something of her life. That remark floored me. I'll never forget it as long as I live. She had so much regret, and it ate away at her. She always wondered what she could have been.

In my family, there has always been a lot of emphasis placed upon education. My mother is a teacher and has her master’s degree. My father also has his bachelor’s degree in business. I was always expected to go to college and succeed. I admit that my family’s influence is both encouraging and stressful. It helps me to know that they believe I can succeed, but it is also stressful to live up to their, and my own, expectations. I have always felt a need to do my best. I don’t worry about competing with other people. Instead, I have just always tried to do my best. That ‘best’ changes as I take more classes. But as long as I do my best, I’ll never have any regrets.