“Okay.” I clear my throat. “I’ve only been to the Dustin Thomas one so far, and it is a little rough.” I sit up. “Get this, it’s the first day and he wants us to pitch in a few weeks. I’m one of only three freshmen, so of course all the grad students cliqued up. I’m stuck with kids whose greatest stress in life has probably been who will make homecoming court—”

“Well then, you’ll just have to lead.” My father cuts me off. “I don’t want to hear it. You know when I first started my company, it’s not like we were nabbing the finest natural talent of the corporate world. I had to make do with people who didn’t know anything about business. You just have to find the untapped potential, the unpolished drive, and teach those people how to work. As long as people have the right leader, you can bring out potential you never would have known was possible...”

I roll my eyes. I don’t have time for the spiel my dad gives at charity luncheons and leadership conferences full of hungry MBAs across the country, pretending he didn’t work in a simpler time. When he started out, oil technology was a pretty safe bet—and yes, he did a lot to make it more efficient, but it’s not like he invented the idea that, hey, people might need gasoline.

“...it’s about hard work and dedication, son...”

By this point, I can practically mouth along to the words of the speech. My father has a strict understanding of the type of success his child should achieve, and how it should be achieved.

My phone buzzes against my face. I glance down to see a banner alert for an email from Sara Jones. It’s a When2Meet request.

I put the phone back to my ear, but my father hasn’t noticed I was distracted. I close my eyes as he rambles on.

Sometimes I wish I had the type of parents who encouraged me to try my best and told me it would all be okay. Who dropped me off at college themselves. A mother who tried to hand me my stuffed animal that I told her I wouldn’t need but was a little glad she brought anyway. A father who patted me on the back, trying not to cry as he called me young man and wondered who would play catch with him on Saturdays now.

But if that were my reality, would it have still been Warren I was moving to?

He continues. “...identify a problem, brainstorm solutions, test, evaluate, repeat...”

I know they’ve given me opportunities most parents only dream of supplying their child. The fancy schools, camps every summer at elite universities, travel sports teams, trips to major world capitals and exotic islands. But sometimes I wish they could’ve just given me their time instead.