Architecture, Ambition, and My Father - Essay Example

of the of the of the Architecture, Ambition, and My Father I hail from a Chinese family that resides in China. The person who has brought to bear the greatest influence on me is my father. He was born in China and was the youngest among seven brothers and one sister. This large family, proved very difficult to provide for and my grandparents were hard pressed to educate my father till the high school stage. This compelled him to seek employment after graduation from high school. To that end he left home with just a hundred Chinese dollars in his pocket. His first place of work was at a printing factory. He worked very diligently at that place and the management taking into consideration his hard work and intelligence, promoted him as the manager of that factory. After the passage of some time, he became the proprietor of that printing factory. Subsequently, he developed tremendous interest in constructions. Accordingly, he sold his printing factory to one of his brothers and founded a construction company. He ran this company personally and its working was very close to his heart. His motivation, drive and innovativeness enabled this company to become prominent. The fame of his company was so great that he even constructed several government buildings, roads, bridges and houses. In this manner he was actively involved in the construction business, then one fine day, after the passage of a decade of successful constructions; he decided to foray into the real estate business. Accordingly, he incorporated a real estate company and commenced to buy large tracts of land and build houses on them by utilizing the services of his construction company. After the successful completion of these houses, he sold them. In this manner, my father is the owner of two very successful companies. As he has at been at pains to inform me on several occasions, these two have constituted the motivation of his highly successful life. His outlook towards life is that the be all and end all of life is not the mere accumulation of money. My father sincerely believes that he should help not only his immediate family, relatives and friends; but also the hard working and needy people, and society at large. He is convinced that only such an attitude towards life would make his life meaningful. At present he is forty – five years old and actively involved in setting up a charitable institution that would help as many people as possible. That my father has been my role model goes without saying. I am an international student and the advice of my father is ingrained in me. He advices me to be an honest and kind hearted person. As an extraordinarily successful leader, he practices what he preaches and he himself if renowned for his honesty and compassion. He has never been known to have told lies to his friends, subordinates and me. He has rendered tremendous assistance to his relatives and friends and he expects the same from me. He has always been highly appreciative of the US and its way of life. Thus, he has always exhorted me, his daughter, to study in the US, the Mecca of education. Moreover, he is of the considered opinion that there is a singular lack of discrimination against female students in the educational institutions of the US, in comparison to what is obtaining in my native country. This signal lack of discrimination, in the US, provides better and wider opportunities to women. In me he hopes to realize his unfulfilled ambition of studying in graduate school. Therefore, he was in the regular habit of exhorting me to go to the US for higher studies. Accordingly, I arrived in this wonderful land when I was just fifteen years old. I had no friends, relatives or acquaintances in the US. I joined the 12th Grade in and American high school and graduated with flying colors. Subsequently, I studied languages for a year at the California State University. After my successful stint at that place, I joined the Santa Monica College. However, despite my preoccupation with my studies and surviving on my own in a foreign land, the exhortations of my father were always in the background of my mind. His fond hope had always been that after the successful completion of my studies, I would step into his shoes, in his professional life. He had always been fascinated with architecture. My childhood was witness to several occasions on which he had taken me to his study to peruse books on architecture. Whenever, I had a few moments to spare, I would remember these touching episodes from my childhood. Slowly, I realized that my true passion in life was architecture. I also realized that I could make a significant change to my father’s companies by acquiring a degree in this wonderfully artistic science. The University of Southern California was founded way back in 1880. It is a world leader in academics and some of its more eminent areas of excellence are architecture, economics, engineering, business affairs, scientific research and law. Its student community is drawn from a hundred and seven countries and all the states of the Union. The foreign component of this widely diverse student body has been estimated at fifteen percent ( USC School of Architecture and The University of Southern California ). In the year 1916, the department of architecture was established at the University of Southern California. This department was transformed into a separate School of Architecture in the year 1925. Right from its very inception, this school was distinguished by the presence of professional and eminent architects on its board of faculty members. In succeeding years this school underwent vast changes and by the year 1933, this school was designated as the College of Architecture and Fine Arts. The architectural knowledge imparted to the students is a well balanced mix of traditional and pragmatic aspects of this highly engrossing field (USC School of Architecture and The University of Southern California ). Arthur Clason Weatherhead – the first dean, Arthur B Gallion, Raymond F Loewy, Emmet Wemple and Sam Hurst were some of the eminent faculty members of this college, over the years. The present incumbent dean Mr. Dean Robert H. Timme has enhanced its professional and academic excellence under his unparalleled stewardship. Frank Gehry, the renowned architect, is one of its more illustrious alumni (USC School of Architecture and The University of Southern California ). With this unmatched history and outstanding resources, it would a matter of pride for any aspiring architect to enter its hallowed portals. I ardently, wish to be allowed this rare honor and privilege. Works Cited USC School of Architecture and The University of Southern California . 2007. 20 January 2008 . USC School of Architecture and The University of Southern California . 2007. 20 January 2008 . Read More