Nicole Arnold
Expressive Essay
The Man Who Taught Me Everything I Know
Edward James Arnold had a rough childhood and a hard start in life. He is the youngest of five and when he was a baby his father decided to leave and never come back. He grew up in the rough city of Philadelphia and was raised by only his mother. Despite not having a father Ed took it upon himself to be the best father he could be to his two children, Nicole and Shjon. He had gone through so much in life and learned lessons the hard way so he wanted to make sure that his children didn’t have to go through some of the things he did. He wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that his children could do whatever they wanted in life but more importantly he wanted to make sure that his children knew important life lessons.
I looked up to my father for as long as I can remember but the first time I really knew that I wanted to be a good person like he was my freshman year of high school. I was the kind of student that struggled a bit with the transition from middle school into high school. I didn’t exactly like going to school either so this made the transition even harder. Being the oldest child I wanted to test the limits my parents set and see how far I could push them. I decided that year that I didn’t need to always go to class. I came home from school just like any other day but my dad is already home and he was never home before me so I knew something had to be wrong. My parents had received a letter in the mail saying if I missed one more day of my World Geography class I would lose credit and have to take it in summer school. That was the first serious and real talk that my father had with me about life and school. My dad had called me downstairs into the living room where both he and my mother were already sitting. I sat down across from them and looking into his face I could just see the disappointment. “Nicole, I’m not sure where to even start with this because I am...