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“And make sure you’re back before Monday,” Daddy continues, his voice going stern “I already don’t like the idea of you taking time off this early”

“It’s senior year, Daddy” I try to keep hthearted I didn’t let hietaway card so early this year I pretended it was because I was impatient to hit the slopes

“I just don’t want you losing your focus”

That, at least, rin, if only sarcastically “Daddy,” I say, “I’m a Driver I’ve never lost my focus in the twenty years since the day I was born”

He laughs, if reluctantly “I gotta give you that one, Corina Well, fine But be careful out there There’s a storht—make sure you beat that to the resort”

I roll my eyes He’s always been overprotective I was born and raised here in Colorado Springs—it’s not like this would be my first snowstorm “I know, Daddy” I hit end call and allow myself a small smile of amusement Hard as he may be onhe does I understand why he wants me to be successful He didn’t find his focus in life until the dayto ree already In that moment, he says, he realized all the mistakes he’d made Noants me to succeed where he failed; to push myself to work harder, the way he does now

“It’s the only way I can be sure you won’t fall down the hole that nearly trapped me,” he always says And I believe him

I just wish certain other people would believe his advice, too

Other people like Professor Tony Lakewood

I tighten htly harder at the thought of him

Tony Lakewood He’s the entire reason I’ off into the mountains for a ski break this weekend in the first place Without hi the exact saone I study hard, I play just as hard, and I come out on top every semester Yes, et in the way of acing raduate at the top ofGPA and plenty of great references fro the way