For you, Dad - Son attributes life success to his father
Published:Sunday | June 19, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Sheena Gayle, Sunday Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau: DRIVEN BY his father's passion to be the best and his love for family, 21 year-old Jamaica-born Robert Joseph Jr has dedicated his academic success to his father who is the executive chef at Seahorse Grill in Montego Bay.
The 21-year-old is an international student at Drew University in New Jersey who majors in business as well as studies Spanish.
Robert made the Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, which is an elite and highly regarded long-standing honours programme in America. The recognition by the Who's Who programme marks a pinnacle of scholastic achievement.
Robert Joseph Jr played an integral role in boosting social integration and participation among students at Drew University through entertainment. With the permission of the school dean, he conceptualised a 'college nightclub' dubbed Drew Club, that centralises and practises responsible partying.
"One of the most profound statements from my father that propelled my success in school and my outlook on life, was when he said to me one day that his greatest fear is to wake up and not have anything to do, not being able to provide for me and my mother," a reflective Robert Jr told The Sunday Gleaner.
passion to excel
It was that statement, he revealed, that fuelled his passion to excel in academics because as simple as it appeared, it "showed how much my father loved his family, and I was moved, so my success is a tribute to him".
The value of a father in the life of a child is immeasurable in the eyes of young Robert who received a football scholarship to study at the American university.
"A father's positive influence is very important in a child's life, as he can teach a child how to be a good parent and impart good values and morals onto the child and, in my case, my father has done that. I have developed such good work ethic through watching my father work hard and passionately to perfect and grow his culinary skills and business," he said.
His admiration for his father was further strengthened when he learnt of a man who was said to be a criminal whom his father counselled and trained to develop a skill.
"Since the intervention by my father, that man turned around his life and considers my father his father because he said to me, that he doesn't know what it's like to have a father.
When most people would have just donated money to charity, my father gave of his time. That man is one of many lives my father has touched. He is the man who, along with my mother, has helped to shape the person I am today," Robert outlined.