In life, I believe that everyone is affected by different individuals or situations that will forever hold significance in their lives. From my virtues to flaws, there is a specific person in my life that should be credited for the overall gentlemen that I have become over time. Since birth, my father has had the greatest influence on my life decisions because I analyze the hardships and sacrifices that he has gone through in order for me to have a better life than him. The hard and valuable lessons he has taught me have given me the power to conquer anything standing in my way. In elementary school, every kid had a superhero that they wanted to be and perceive themselves as. At recess, while I would exuberantly slide down the slides and swing on monkey bars, the main names that would come into conversation were Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. In this time I would always find myself out of place. In my mind, I knew that my superhero did not fly, drive a nice car, or wear a mask or costume. The superhero I had in mind worked long hours to provide shelter. He also had great determination, used his “powers” to good deed, and tutored me on the value of education, family, hard-work, and discipline. Zeus mentioned in Hercules that “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength in his heart.” In any situation I have found myself in, using my father and his strengths as a blueprint has helped structure me into the person I am today. Superheroes’ go through many obstacles when they're trying to figure out who they truly are and how they’re going to affect their surroundings. In many situations they often have two different personalities. As Bruce Wayne was for private business, and Batman was for public saving, my father was sort of similar. Danny Brooks was this caring, hard-working, thoughtful guy to the world. And in my eyes, he was this terrifying (at least he was when I was five) monster who would discharge tough love to me. My school teacher would normally use colored checks, along with additional comments to coordinate with our behavior for the day. Green was superior, yellow was satisfactory, orange was poor, and red was atrocious. “If you don’t come home with a green check, you’re going to get a whooping when you get out of class!” When I was released from school, I knew that my life was coming to an end because of the orange check I received. I started to bethink on all of the stuff I had done previously, as I walked to the car in front of the school. As I began to buckle my seatbelt inside the car, Father asked to see my folder (where the discipline checks are kept). “Hmm...Orange check, Couldn’t pay attention in class today.” “Kendall, how come you couldn’t pay attention today?” I guess what they say about the eyes being windows to the soul is true. When he looked at me I could see flames being commenced inside his pupils. The look I gave him back was like a deer in front of headlights at night. Speechless, I couldn’t think of anything to say for my mischievous behavior. After every whooping I always received a speech or lesson. Many of the times it was about what I did wrong, and why I shouldn’t do it for future occasions. Discipline came to me very early from my father, for that all his life he had been a “red check.” With no adult supervision, he started drinking and smoking at the age of 10. Realizing from his past decisions, he always tells me that if he would have had someone to tell him what was right from wrong then maybe he wouldn’t have went down that pa