The Renaissance Man The people with whom we associate in conjunction with our surroundings affect us in many aspects of our life. One prominent individual has had an everlasting affect on my life. He came to me when I was seventeen months old. Ever since that day he has been with me, subtly guiding me through all the stages y my side throughout my life. I see his success as a motive to achieve my own ambitions. James Derderian, my father, adopted me, with his wife, Elizabeth, when I of my eighteen years. At the age of fifty-nine, when most people begin to think about retirement, he adopted me. I was the last of three children that he adopted s