The first time I visited my dad’s job I was barely tall enough to reach his waist. I remember coming up to the huge warehouse as curious as ever. Inside, the space was huge, dark, and loud, with tons of voices yelling out words I didn’t understand. Then my dad pulled me through a different door which led to a much smaller, quieter space. In this area, there were multiple people at desks, hunched over their computers, some talking on the phone, some by a coffee maker in the corner of the room. They all greeted me and my father as we walked through, moving towards another door. The words on that final door said “General Manager,” then in smaller letters “Eduardo Soto.”

It was then that I realized my dad had much more responsibility at his job than I thought. I sat at his chair, too small to reach comfortably over his desk, and watched intently as he worked. Sometimes we would leave the office to go back to the dark, open space and he would talk to the people there, sweaty and grimy from their manual labor about what they had done that day and what needed to be done. The reason I’m telling this story is to give you a little bit of insight on just how much my dad has influenced my choice in career.

From a young age he always pushed me to excel in school, he taught me that education is valuable, irreplaceable. He also taught me the importance of good leadership and ambition. As a young child, I did not realize the impact this would have on me, but looking back at my life, I see the way he’s influenced me to go into business. And my mother contributed as well, teaching me about punctuality and networking, as she’s had to do this a lot at her own job. In my household, you always got rewarded for good grades, effort, and good leadership.

And as life went on, my friends also helped me in choosing my career. I value all of my friends greatly and I always desire to be someone they can come to for advice. Thanks to them I’ve become much more conscious about others’ perspectives compared to mine which has helped me develop an interest in working with others. I believe business is all about being able to work with others, guiding them, negotiating with them, becoming friends with them, and as this is one of my strengths, I believe this is the perfect field for me.

My friends and family life have influenced me greatly in choosing business as a career, but without a doubt, the biggest influence was my father. I’m incredibly grateful to all of these people in my life for teaching me the values that have led me to this point. And I’m excited to one day sit at a chair in an office like my father’s, one where I can reach comfortably over the desk.