Influences play a major role in determining the way people turn out in life. Without influences, many of the things we understand today, many of the things we can’t do without for a day would be non-existent. Take Michael Faraday’s indelible contribution to the world for example, electricity. The whole world is powered by electricity be it from a hydroelectric source, a battery cell, a wind turbine or a generator. I do not know what exactly influenced Faraday to find an alternative form of energy but I can imagine Faraday walking down a street one day, returning home from a hard day’s work when he overhears a man ranting over something. Apparently, this man’s house had almost been consumed by a fire. Faraday approached the man and kindly asked why the man was not enjoying himself on such a lovely evening. The man, almost in tears, began to narrate the tragedy, swallowing the lumps of sorrow that swelled in his throat as he went on. The man’s youngest son had gone to bed as he did every other evening. A candle had been placed on his chest of drawers so he could change into his nightwear comfortably. Unfortunately, the candle was knocked down and it fell into one of the compartments of his drawers, slowly consuming his clothes. The boy had tried to extinguish the flames but had only succeeded in accentuating them. In seconds his chest of drawers had become a fiery furnace. He began to scream in a panicked frenzy, alerting everyone in the house. The man had gotten there just in time to douse the flames with water. But the cost of repair and replacement was what was really docking this man’s mood. Faraday could not do much to help the man but this event had sparked something within him. It had influenced him to do something about this situation, something that would change the world.

From this fictive story, it can be drawn that Faraday was influenced by this man’s situation because it changed his mind set to do something about the unreliability and danger of candlelight. But the greatest influences of all don’t have to come from people who we happen to meet or from some person on the bus on your way to work. It can come from those closest to us; our friends and our family members. I have been greatly influenced by my father. Being a dad is a tough job that requires patience, effort and most of all love and he has selflessly offered all these things without the expectation of being paid back. As a child, he would tell me stories of his own school days; how he would ask for help from his colleagues when he was having difficulties in his schoolwork or the famed story about how he was ostracized by his friends. This particular story is what has influenced me the most. He had exams coming up sooner than later and the prom was also scheduled in a way that clashed with the exams. His friends were carried away with the hype and despite all his pleading and advice, his friends did not study for their exams. He was seen as a “party pooper” which was why he was ostracized, but he did not let that get to him. He did not let peer pressure overcome him. He studied for his exams and he passed while his colleagues were pulled back a year and had to retake the exam. How has this influenced me you may ask? Well, the answer is it has helped me to realize that despite popular demand, one should always do the right thing no matter the cost because the reward is far sweeter than the sacrifice.