My parents influenced us with the concepts of family, faith and love for one's motherland when l was young.Even though we struggled to make ends meet, they stressed how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. I got my first real job when l was ten.My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a cardboard - box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist.He rented space in a little mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr.Ben's Coiffure. The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3 a.m. to pick up rubbish. Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower.Mom and I emptied rubbish cans and picked up rubbish by hand.It took two to three hours to clean the lot.I'd s1eep in the car on the way home. I did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime, I acquired discipline  and a strong work morality , and learned at an early age the importance of balancing life's competing interests---in my case, school, homework and a job.This really helped during my senior year of high school, when l worked 40 hours a week flipping hamburgers at a fast-food joint while taking a full load of college-prepared courses. _ .I attended the U.S.Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degree in law and business from Harvard.Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state committee.In these jobs and in everything else I've done, I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot.The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families, that is something we should honor. In order to get a discount on rent,  _
his father had to work as a hairstylist his father had to work in a cardboard - box factory they had to clean the-parking lot three nights a week his father had to pick up litter by hand three hours a day