We all have someone important to us. Someone who touched our lives in a way that no one else can. Someone who is our biggest role model. Sometimes it is just one person and other times it is multiple people.  For me, it is my parents, and my grandpa. My name is Olivia Amos and I am a student at Rochester Community and Technical College.

         I grew up in a small town in Minnesota called Elgin. I have three older brothers, and two loving parents. Growing up I was picked on a lot for not being able to learn as well as the other kids and for how I looked. I wasn’t raised in a house where we never had to worry about money. There were multiple times where we didn’t have much to eat because my dad was between jobs before he got his job at Minnesota State Highway Department. Then later on found out I have a learning disability and was diagnosed with ADD my sophomore year of high school. I saw how hard it was on my parents.

My mom decided to go back to school to get her nursing degree, while working at night and raising three little kids. It wasn’t easy on her, but she did it to create a better life for us. She didn’t go through all this work on her own. She had a lot of support from my dad, and my dad’s father.  My dad and his father were always really close. My grandpa made my father into the man he is today. He also made me into the person I am today.

We all face a hard time in our lives that stays with us forever. That hard day for me was the day I lost my grandpa. He was my best friend, he was supposed to walk me down the aisle someday with my father at my wedding. He taught me a lot during the time I had with him. He taught me what it is to be a good person and how to help people and make their day better.

         Everything he taught me has always stuck with me, and because of that I have done a lot of volunteer work. I have volunteered at the Gift for life transplant house, multiple community events, and Cancer Telethon. He and my parents taught me that nothing in life comes easy. You work for what you earn, because of that lesson I have three different jobs. I work at a residents house, the college I attend as a Student Ambassador, and at Spring Creek Motocross.

I want to be a person who impacts other peoples lives in a very positive way, like my parents and my grandpa have. I am currently going to school to receive my Nursing degree. This way I can help the people who feel down and like their life isn’t fair because they are sick, have some positivity and hope in their lives. To let them know there is someone who cares about them and will bring some sunlight into the dark times.

Continuing my education after High School gives me that chance. It provides me with the knowledge and skills I need to be able to provide future patients of mine with the right type of care, while being a person they can trust and put a smile on their face. I couldn’t have done this or even be the person I am without my three role models.  I want to make all three of them proud, even if my grandpa is not here to experience it with me. I know he’s there every step of the way.

I am continuing my education not just for the love and passion I have for my degree, but also to show that people can make a change in your life. It doesn’t matter how or who it is, all it matters is that they have and made you see the good in people and this life we live, just like my grandpa and my parents have done for me.