Michael T. Sterling grew up in southeast Texas. His father is a blue collar man. He is a member of the United Steelworkers, and works as an instrument technician at a refinery. He is a hard worker with a great sense of humility.
“My dad is without question one of the most selfless people I know. No matter what it is he had to do to take care of his family, he would do it. No matter what personal sacrifice.”
If a women was stranded on the side of the road with a flat, his father is the type of man that would make Sterling get out the car, and change the tire.
His father taught life lessons through work. Sterling often spent his quality time with his dad doing chores. Of course like any other child he rather spend that time playing basketball or watching cartoons. However, they were either shingling a roof, changing oil in cars, or fixing an alternator.
One time, they spent 18 months every Saturday tearing down a house. No, it wasn’t just a wall or a room. It was the entire house.
“I was doing everything to get out of it. But in hindsight, I look back at it, and appreciate it for everything it meant to him and me.”
Indeed, the hard work ingrained into Sterling spewed into his school work and career. He went to Morehouse College for his undergrad, and graduated summa cum laude at Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
