Because I don't want to let them down

[Sean Senozan]

It was July 2005 and I was 14 years old. My family and I took a trip to my father's original country, Turkey. My dad showed me where he grew up and where he went to school. He told stories from his childhood and how he was able to leave Turkey to move to the US for a better life. He lived in a small apartment building in a urban community with multiple family members. His parents, who were struggling financially, could not provide him with much, but the bare minimum for survival. Even with these harsh conditions, my father worked very hard in school and was able to be one of the top students at his high school. He applied to UC Berkeley with hopes of moving to the US and being able to provide his family with a better lifestyle then he was raised in. My dad was accepted and later graduate as one of the top chemistry students at Berkeley. I was shocked to know how my dad was raised and know he was able to leave for the US and achieve so much. Finding this out had a huge impact on my outlook on life. It made me realize that anything I wanted to do was possible and that it takes hard work to achieve your dreams. Seeing what he went through to provide for me inspired me to work as hard as I could to succeed and do the same for my family. My parents did everything they could to give me the best life they could and always told me the only thing they wanted in return was to try my best in school in order to be successful in the future. This is the reason why I have tried so hard in school and have been so motivated to not fail. My parents are my motivation and I would do anything to not disappoint them. They have given me so much and have asked for very little in return. I do what I do because I don’t want to let them down.