Undergraduate / "my father applied these wise words" - Common Apps essay: person who influenced me [5]

Well I'm writing a common app essay on the person who influenced me the most and I am in need of some feedback. Here is what I have so far. I know it's not the greatest and it could use some help

Prompt:Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
I choose to write the essay on my father
the "___"= a quote from my dad but I can't think of one at the momemnt

Everyday I walk through the familiar walls of my home and I see the faces of people who have greatly influenced me. Out of all these people my father has had the most influence on my life. Moreover it has been the persistence and the tenacity of my father that has chiefly affected me. He always said to me "_____''. Throughout my life I have witnessed instances, in which my father applied these wise words to his life.

In the winter of 1996, my father, brother, and I immigrated to the United States from Jamaica, West Indies. The United States was a strange and unfamiliar place for us, which was the case for many immigrants. Although my father had relatives living in America, none of them had the means to house us for an extended period of time. For this reason we had to move constantly from relative to relative. While staying with a relative in Manhattan, my dad began relentlessly searching for a job. Previously my father was the accounting manager for a large corporation in Jamaica, albeit he was still turned away from many employers. Despite all of the rejections, he persevered long enough to be hired as an Assistant Financial Controller for a prominent enterprise.