Denise Corathers

We all have people in our lives who have shaped the way in which we choose to live our lives and our personal convictions. Generally speaking, these qualities and moral values are instilled in people by individuals such as family members, teachers, and close long time friends. While my parents both played a huge role in shaping my morals and convictions, there is another individual that I attempted to emulate my beliefs after. This individual is Denise Coroathers, my childhood nanny. She started working with me and my sister when I entered kindergarten. At this point in my life I was merely a raw piece of clay waiting to be shaped and Mrs. Denise's efforts have shaped me into the man I am today. Merriam-Webster defines a hero as a person who as admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.

My nanny perfectly embodies this definition of a hero. She may not have ever fought in a war or saved someone's life but she did show up to work every day with a smile to watch over and teach two far from perfect children. This smile can be seen in this picture of Denise, my sister and I in my old home. To this day, I do not know how she was able to maintain such a great level of self control while my sister and I hit, slapped, screamed, and attempted to defy her every command. This example of perfect composure is what I strive to be able to achieve someday. Growing up I was a bit of a hot head. I was quick to argue and fight with my fellow classmates and never would accept that I was in the wrong. I was also easily agitated and frustrated resulting in me giving up on many school projects and commitments I had made. Looking back, Denise is the reason I now put so much effort into keeping my cool. Many people of my age still lack the ability to remain level headed in certain situations, a skill that was ingrained in me by the time I graduated elementary school. I like to think of myself as an individual with an appropriate level of self-confidence and a person who isn't massively effected by what others think of me.

This ability to be myself and not care what others think was taught to me and my sister from the very beginning. She emphasized how important it is to be who we truly are regardless of what others think. Many children are taught this same as me and my sister but my nanny added a key concept to go along with this idea. The importance of being able to hear constructive criticism and use it to become better has truly helped me progress as a young man. Anyone can block out others opinions of them and their work, finding a way to take that opinion and make it into something that can be used to improve oneself is much more challenging. As humans, we all battle with personal pride and its key to our development as individuals to learn how to swallow our pride in order to improve.

Miss Denise also taught me the importance of being able to work hard without whining or complaining and what it results in. I believe that the ability to go through adversity and hard times without whining is necessary to achieve success in anything in life. My nanny taught me and my sister that whining doesn't make the problem go away or make it easier to solve, its just a waste of time. To this day I remember her repeatedly telling me "If you had been working all that time you had been whining you probably would've been done already". This an essential concept to understand for all adults, young and old. There are many times when I receive an assignment and want to moan and groan about how long it is going to take me to complete. This type of thinking only makes completing the task at hand more challenging because you dread working on it before you even begin. The ability to buckle down and put in work, even when it's not pleasant, is something I'm immensely happy that my nanny taught me.

Of all the traits and personal convictions I've formed based on Denise's teachings, the most important and influential in my opinion is the importance of truly enjoying life and how to find the good in the bad. Everyone on Earth should be able to do this because no one lives a truly perfect life. That means everyone will experience bad things at some point in their life and without being able to identify the good in those situations individuals will become depressed and often develop an urge to give up. To maintain stable and prosperous lives we need to be able to make the best of all situations. If you're being forced to do something unpleasant try to focus your mind on what you can get out of it instead of how much you hate having to do it. Another key factor to enjoying life is appreciating what you have. Being thankful that you have a home to live in and food to eat. Basic luxuries that we have become accustomed to. I strive to show my appreciation and be thankful because of the example Denise was to me every day. I want to thank my nanny, Miss Denise, for investing so much time in me and shaping my moral values. I'm so thankful that she never let me quit when things got hard, that she never let me waste time whining, and that she forced me to develop self-control. I try to act as a respectable young man not only to create a positive image of myself, but to honor those who have invested so much time and effort into me like my nanny, Miss Denise. I can't imagine I would be the same man I am today without her tremendous influence and for that I am forever grateful.