This is my dad. Yesterday was his last day at the mine, after a 30-year career as a welder. To mark the event, the company named one of the mine's main streets after him - the 1st time they've done such a thing. He's not an emotional kind of guy, but I can tell he's touched. 1/

I come from a blue-collar family - something that has given me much anxiety in a white-collar profession. I was a first-gen university student. In grad school, I always felt like an outsider, no matter how hard I tried, how well I did. The impostor syndrome - it's very real. 2/

But one thing that transcends social classes is a moral compass. Values like honesty and pride in a job well done - even when nobody's looking. This is what my dad was known for at the mine - a mix of smarts, efficiency, and minutiae. 3/

Today, I realize those things marked me most about him. That his values will always be part of my own compass and have helped me overcome some of the challenges I met on the way to make it into my profession.
And that I'm terribly proud to be his daughter.
/fin