Family Differences

Joe Falcon
Essay #4

Family Differences Like father, like son. A father and his son are meant to be alike in a lot of ways. Anyone who knows my dad can see some similar traits in myself. However, we were very different growing up as teenagers. The major differences were our home life, the types of school’s we attended, and our dreams on playing sports in the future. Although we had different lives growing up, we still have similar values. Irish people are known for larger families. However, my dad’s family was huge. He was the first child of ten. It might have made it easier on him that he was first because his parents didn’t have all that responsibly yet. That lifestyle had to be hectic, as you could imagine. Apparently one time, my dad’s family went on a trip to Wisconsin Dells. They rented out a huge van so they could fit the whole family in there. They started to drive down the street, until they realized they forgot my dad’s brother. I know if my family were in that situation, we defiantly would have noticed if someone was missing. Nevertheless, my dad claims it was a good experience having that many siblings. His parents were pretty lenient because they had so much to deal with. They grew up in Lansing, Illinois and still live there today. The house wasn’t entirely big, so a lot of them had to share rooms. Eventually, he got sick of living there because of all the children around the house. So, at age 18 he moved out and got an apartment with his friends. Although, he did not go to college, he was still working full time landscaping.
My teenage life was the complete opposite of his. I had 3 sisters, but they are all relatively older than me. So, in a way I was like an only child because they were never around. I think that made my parents a little stricter. That meant I had my room to myself, and another spare room where I could keep more of my things in. My house wasn’t very big, but I was one the only child in it. And although I left for college, I wouldn’t say that I have moved out for good yet. High school is different for everyone, even if you go to the same school. My dad went to a private school. On the other hand, I attended a public school. Right off the bat, you can tell we had different experiences. In my opinion, I would say that private schools are more strict and up tight, compared to public schools. For example, he had to wear uniforms, attend church every week, and take religious based classes. My dad claims that doing those things gave him the right values, and helped him shape his character. I am happy that my dad chose to put me in public schooling instead though. I think that fit my persona much more. To give an example, back then that’s when the teachers didn’t respect the students as much. Whether it was hitting them, calling them names, or not helping them enough. He said that most students feared their teachers. Now, I feel like I would have never learned anything if I was terrified to go to class everyday. That of course isn’t the case anymore, but it is something that my father saw first hand. In my opinion, I’ll take public schools or private any day. I will give my future children the choice, but I will always be biased towards the public. Most athletes have similar dreams and aspirations growing up. Some are bigger than others, but nevertheless it presents a challenge for us to conquer. My dad’s dream as a teenager was to play college football. Neither of his parents went to college, so that would have been an accomplishment on its own. He was actually the starting quarterback freshman and sophomore year. So, he was setting the bar pretty high for himself. When junior year came along, he broke his collarbone first game. He never played football again. His dream was shattered. I was also a pretty good athlete in high school. However, my sport was baseball. Baseball wasn’t my favorite sport, but it was the one I was best at. I never really had offers from colleges like my father to play at the collegiate level, but I was still a starter and a good overall athlete. So, my dreams weren’t necessarily shattered that I wasn’t going to play sports competitively anymore. Nevertheless, we both moved on and have not lost the passion for sports today. My dad and I are very similar people today. However, if we were a part of the same generation we would have been entirely different people. We had a different type of home life, different types of schools, and had different views on sports growing up. Sometimes, the people who are opposites of each other become the best of friends. Just like the scientific term, opposites attract. I would say that’s how my dad and I stand today, and I couldn’t be happier about that.