The person I admire most is my dad Stevie Brooks Sr. His story has given me courage to know that I can become anything I set my mind to. My father was born October 6, 1958 in Clarksdale, Mississippi to my grandmother Charlene Brooks. At six-years-old my father's mother passed away and he was left in the care of his grandmother, Julia Brooks. She was sixty-nine years old and had only completed third grade. She was determined that my father be provided with a high school and college education. My father has told me how my grandmother was determined to make him understand how important education was to his future and development. She would tell my father the story of how she was never given the chance to attend school past the third grade because she had to help her family pick cotton to make a living. She made him understand in order to have a life, education was the key and without it life would never be what he wanted.
My father didn't at first understand why education was so important to her and he did not put forth the effort he needed to be successful in elementary school. My grandmother who relied on welfare to support the family decided that the only way to get my father to understand how important education was to enroll him into a catholic school. Because she could not afford the tuition she made an agreement with the nuns that my father would work after school as a janitor to pay for his tuition. My father at first didn't appreciate having to work as a janitor. But my grandmother told him without an education this was the most he could expect out of life. She told him "if you want more out of life then you need to apply yourself and understand that education is the only way to change your life." My father told me that this inspired him to want to get his education so that he could get the life he wanted.
Throughout his middle and high school he struggled to maintain his grades, but he never gave up his dream of completing high school and going on to college. When he was in twelfth grade he was told by his teacher that she felt he would not be able to attend college and that he should go down to the local grocery store and become a bag boy. This hurt my father to hear what she felt he was capable of, but also motivated him to want to prove her wrong.
My father graduated from high school and was accepted to Alcorn State University where he graduated four years later with a bachelors of science in business of administration. He was also commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army where he served with honor and dignity until his retirement. My father now gives students the same courage and determination his grandmother gave him. As a Senior Army instructor of a high school JROTC my father motivates students to graduate from high school and drives them attend college.
I selected my father because he constantly makes me understand how important education is in life. The courage that my father showed throughout his life is something that will serve as an example that anything you put your mind to you can accomplish.
Learning Quest was created by the Kansas Legislature in 1999 and was officially opened July 1, 2000. The program is administered by the Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, CPA, and is managed by American Century Investments. For more information go online at www.learningquest.com or www.kansasstatetreasurer.com.
** Prizes are paid for by the Learning Quest Program. No taxpayer dollars are used to purchase or disburse winning prizes.
Administered by Kansas State Treasurer, Lynn Jenkins, CPA.
Managed by American Century Investment Management, Inc. Notice: Accounts established under Learning Quest and their earnings are neither insured nor guaranteed by the State of Kansas, the Kansas State Treasurer or American Century. Learning Quest is distributed by American Century Investment Services, Inc.
