Coti Farias
Holly Pappas
English 101
May 9, 2014
Persistence by definition means a continued effort to keep trying. I would say I have always been very persistent in life. This would be a trait I seem to get from both my parents. I grew up in a middle class family, where both my parents never went to college or even finished high school. Over the years of my growing up they have taught me how to be understanding, smart and persistent.
It seems like it was just yesterday I was only 12 years old lying in my bed because I had school the next morning but I couldn’t sleep so I was up just listening to my mom and dad talk in the living room with frustration, it was silent all around the house both my brother and sister sleeping. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop on the wooden tiles down the stairs and I was wide awake in my room in bed staring up at the ceiling trying to overhear my parents talking in their frustration. I was trying to understand why my mother and father would always stay up late talking for hours in the living room about money and how they were going manage it. Many thoughts were going through my head trying to understand why they worried about money all the time if both of them had jobs. One night I decided to get out of my bed so I could go down stairs and ask them what was wrong and if everything was ok. As I made my way to the stairs, my dad heard me walking down the stairs and had asked why I wasn’t in bed. I told him I wanted to know if everything was ok, but my mom interrupted and said “everything was fine, don’t worry about it”. She then commanded me to go back to bed and get some sleep. As I was walking up the stairs slowly trying to avoid getting to the top, I was confused and didn’t understand why they said everything was fine if they talked with frustration. I then realized my mother and father were going through a struggling experience I didn’t understand why if they both had jobs and worked long hours and were always providing for us. They were struggling with everything between bills, putting food on the table, working long hours, and taking care of a family never mind putting money away to save . They never quit they continued to do anything they both could do to get through each day. Even with paying the bills and putting food on the table, they still managed to save money on the side for holidays, birthdays and special occasions like little vacations or emergencies. The challenges with this were hard because of putting money away there were always other expenses to like gas for the car, car insurance, money for laundry, and household essentials. As I grew older I became to understand more about life needs and how everything costs money.
The challenges they faced them to never give up and saving money was always a smart idea even at tough times. This smart idea to save money made me smart with money. It made me think before I spend. This impacted me for a lifetime lessons ahead because I have got this trait from my mother and father as I was growing up over the years. . I’ve learned to be smart I wanted my license and a car and to do so I needed a job I got hired at age sixteen and worked at Taco Bell, I started to work every other day after school and even on weekends. My paychecks would go into my savings account and wouldn’t be touched. My goal was to get enough money in my account to take classes and road lessons to earn my license. Once I had enough money to pay for all of that, I strived to save more money in my account to soon by a car. After working many hours and many weekends of saving a lot of paychecks I finally had enough money to buy my own car! My persistence to save money on my own has been a great mind set to achieving my goals.
Over the years of growing up I’ve learned to be persistent I had a experience in my life that has happened to me when I broke my ankle right after the holidays, when I just spend so much money buying gifts for my family and girlfriend. I wasted so much money on gifts that my money I’ve saved up over time was getting low. I didn’t expect to break my ankle. This was the worst downfall in my life so far, because of my ankle I couldn’t work. Just because I couldn’t work didn’t mean my bills would disappear, I still had to pay my car insurance, phone bill and my gym membership. I was persistent and smart to have had money saved up and put it on the side like my parents did. My effort to save a lot of money helped me in the end. I had enough saved to pay my bills for two months of my injury.
As I grew up over the years, my parents impacted a lifetime lessons that I will never forget. I have understood that just because you have a job doesn’t mean you make enough to get through life. I was also smart like them to always have put money on the side in case of anything happened. Persistence is the key to a solid foundation of achieving your goals, whatever they may be. Whether they are big or small. My mother always has said, ” You have never failed until you quit trying”. Persistence is the opposite of quitting, I believe because of my persistence one day I will have a better paying job, own my own home, be able to hopefully live life without struggling. Theses three main components I have learned will be with me throughout life.