Influential+Person


 * __ Influential Person __**

There have been many people that have influenced my life and made me the person I am today. Although there have been many influential people in my life, one person stands out more than others. The one person that I have looked up to and learned the most from is my brother Justin Lee Shatto. Justin is six years older, and I have been looking up to him since the day I was born.

Growing up, there are things that throw most of us for a turn, when we wondering if we should give up and call it quits. Never giving up and persevering is a way that my big brother has influenced me. When we were younger playing video or board games, he would always beat me and much of the time I would want to give up. He always reminded me that quitters never win, and if I quit it would become a habit and I might quit at everything I do in life. That is not the person that I wanted to become and Justin helped influence me into not becoming that kind of person. Justin has also helped me become the respectful young man that I am today. He helped me accomplish this by always making sure I said please and thank you to everyone when I was younger. As I grew up, he taught me many more ways to be respectful to people and how to live my life in a respectful manner.

The final thing that my brother has taught me is the love of the game and that game is baseball. When I was growing up, Justin would take me outside to play catch because he loved baseball so much and had no one else to toss the ball to. Many times I was the only one around that was willing to play catch. As we continued to play catch more and more I began to enjoy the game of baseball just as much as my brother did and that love for the game has just increased as I have grown up and continued to play. When I was about 8 years old I remember going to watch baseball tournaments my brother played in with a traveling baseball team. I saw how much he liked the competition and being part of the team.

The example Justin set led me to practice even harder at becoming better in baseball. When I was 10, I started playing on a traveling baseball team called the Sioux Falls Heat. We played together until we were 13 years old. I have many happy memories about my time playing with the Heat, but the most memorable was when we won the South Dakota VFW state tournament as 12 year olds. It was a close game in the last inning of the championship game and the other team was batting with runners on first and second and 2 outs. I was playing third base and there was a hard ground ball hit to me. I fielded the ball and stepped on third base to make the final out to clinch the championship. It was the first year the VFW held a state championship for 12 year old. so our team was the very first champions. Without the example of hard work and practice that my brother set I probably would not have has these great experiences.

I am very appreciative to all that my brother has taught me. He was always around when I needed a positive influence and support. He was always the big brother and best friend He has helped me to grow and form me into the young man I am today. I know he will always be there for me when I continue on to college and I will always look up to him as my big brother and best friend