I am thinking about Father’s Day, and wishing my dad was
still here. He was my best buddy. I often think about how much he did for me, in
terms of building confidence which has helped me get through so many things in
life. My dad was a welder and I was his
only daughter. So, he took me with him
to his welding shop from the time I could walk.
He taught me the names of all the tools in his shop. He showed me how to use tools and always led
me to believe that I could do whatever I wanted to do, as well as anyone
else. This is a picture of my daughter sitting on my dad's welding truck, she experienced the same tomboy joys of hanging out with her grandpa.
We had a little camp on a lake so
we always had a boat. He let me drive
the boat from his lap when I was small and showed me how to read a chart to
navigate around the lake. I have a boat of my own now, and it is my favorite thing to do in my life.
Later on, when I was learning to drive, he showed me how to
change the oil in a car and how to change a tire, which I ended up actually
having to do one winter afternoon on a lonely country road. He even managed to get me interested in
driving motorcycles by letting me use an old dirt bike to practice in the lot
behind the shop.
Because he proved to me that I was capable, I grew up willing
to take on challenges, and learn new things.
This is how I ended up going to a one-year program to learn EEG
technology back in 1978! And the challenges
kept coming, as I progressed through my career: learning how to do IONM, taking
on lab management, becoming an instructor then a program director, and then
working for ASET!
Whether you develop your confidence with the help of your
family, or do it on your own, the most important message I have for you, is to
keep trying and challenge yourself! Take
that new job! Set a goal of passing a
credentialing exam! Go back to school
part time at night and get a degree!
That is how I got my Master’s in Education and it has opened a thousand
doors for me!
Keep growing, keep learning!
Never give up!
And I hope you have a loving dad too, and can think of the
things he did for you, and celebrate that special person in your life.
