Undergraduate / I'm different form my Mom; Significant influence (Person) [6]

Prompt: Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you and describe that influence.

My mother and I have always had our fair share of differences. We are extremely different people, and consequently we do not see eye to eye on practically anything. Although, while I do not agree with many of her opinions or her stances on political issues, I do try to emulate what I consider to be her best qualities, her selflessness and her unconditional love.

I have not always appreciated my mother's unique characteristics. In fact, I've often found myself annoyed and considered myself smothered. Ironically, I only realized how invaluable my mother's role in my life was when I left home for the first time to attend a three-week summer camp.

I had been so ecstatic to leave my home and my family behind. We had been cooped up in our house without air conditioning for a week preceding my trip, and the close proximity combined with the scorching July temperatures was not doing our already precarious relationship any favors. I was more than happy to go to camp where I assumed I would meet new and exciting people. So with my whole room packed into my suitcase, I left home and didn't look back.

Unfortunately, once I got to camp all of my previous convictions flew out of the window. All I wanted was my mom. I didn't care that she was on vacation or that she had paid five thousand dollars for me to go to this camp, I just wanted her to come pick me up and take me home. She adamantly refused. She was determined that I was going to stay, no matter how much I pleaded otherwise. I hated her so much in that first week of camp, but I also knew that I needed her. I needed her love and reassurance and most of all her strength. My mother knew all of this and she made countless sacrifices for me. She selflessly stayed up with me on Skype until two or three in the morning, every night for those three weeks. She sent me postcards and homemade muffins, and she texted me every morning before my first class. She was my hero for those three weeks.

My mother's influence in my life has been astonishing. I've heard it said before that only your mother can love you unconditionally, and I now wholeheartedly believe that. I'm fairly certain that no one else would've put up with my antics. My mother's unconditional love and acceptance makes me want to prove myself. I want to give her a reason to truly be proud of me. I only hope that I can make the difference in somebody's life that my mother has made in mine.