“The Value of a Single Human Life”
“My Dad”
Alexandria Hanover, grade 7
Brownington, VT
Saint Paul’s Catholic School, Barton, VT
My life would be completely different if it weren’t for my dad. My parents have been divorced since I was four and my father took custody of me and my siblings. We live in a little house in Brownington, Vermont near a beautiful lake. I also attend a small private Catholic school which has been a struggle for my dad to pay for over the years. My dad thinks it’s worth the trouble because he wants the best education for me. My mother and father argued over my education of where I should go to school, but in the end, my father convinced my mother to let me stay since I loved my friends and teachers. My dad is a special education teacher at Lake Region Union high school. He loves working with the kids at his school and is always trying to help them overcome their disabilities so they can live a normal life. Many of his former students who graduated have kept in contact with my dad. One kid comes over so my dad can help him with his taxes and another one of his students helped fix our lawn mower. My dad loves to mow the lawn, so he was glad that the boy was able to help fix it. My father also works with my brother who has special needs. My brother and I don’t always get along, but my dad always helps us to get along.
My dad works a part time job at Jay Peak so my sister and I can enjoy the perks of snowboarding for free. My sister and I also get to use the waterpark and climbing center. With my father’s discount, he was able to hold some of my birthdays at the climbing center, giving me some very great memories there. Thanks to my dad giving up his time, it gave us the privilege of being able to do these things. He was always working when I was younger and it made me sad that he wasn’t around or how sometimes he couldn’t go to my sports games, but I now understand and am thankful for all the work he’s put in for my siblings and I.
In conclusion, my life would have turned out very different for my siblings and I if it weren’t for my father. Just like the play we did at school, It’s a Wonderful Life, it showed how the world would be if George Bailey didn’t exist. Without my father, I wouldn’t be where I am right now in my life and education. How would it have turned out if I went with my mother to live, or if he didn’t get his second job? Without this single human life, I wouldn’t be here, and his students wouldn’t have gotten the boost of help they needed. So, for all these reasons I’m glad my father was born and I owe him my gratitude for everything he has done for me, my siblings and his students.
