27/07/2026
A message from our leader, Edwin Winter. At Four Seasons, we believe skills can be taught, but honesty, dependability, perseverance, and character are the foundation of everything we do.
What Am I?
There is a question every young person needs to ask:
What am I?
Fill in the blank.
I am __________.
It may sound like a simple question, but how you answer it may determine the direction of your entire life.
Are you honest?
Are you dependable?
Are you kind?
Are you courageous?
Are you a leader?
Are you someone who keeps your word?
Are you a person who gives up when life becomes difficult, or someone who keeps moving forward?
You need to decide what belongs in that blank because if you don’t, someone else will.
I learned this lesson firsthand in fifth grade.
It was my first day at a brand-new middle school. I sat down in math class, and the teacher began taking attendance. A few minutes later, someone from the office came to the classroom door and called my name. I was taken out of that class and placed in a special learning program because my math skills weren’t where they were expected to be.
What made it even more confusing was that my parents had never told me this was going to happen. I had no idea I would be placed in a special education class, so being called out in front of everyone came as a complete surprise.
At that age, I didn’t understand everything that was happening. What I did understand was that I suddenly felt different. I felt labeled.
In my young mind, I began to wonder if people thought I was dumb.
The truth was, I was anything but.
The year before, in fourth grade, I had spent much of the school year with two broken arms. Maybe that affected my learning. Maybe I simply fell behind in math for a season. Whatever the reason, one area of weakness became a label I carried far longer than I should have.
For years, part of me believed it.
Then I joined the Army.
There, I took a series of aptitude tests. To my surprise, I scored very well, better than many people I had compared myself to.
Those scores didn’t change who I was.
They changed how I saw myself.
For the first time, I realized the label I had accepted as a child was never true.
My confidence began to grow. I stopped defining myself by someone else’s opinion and started believing in my own potential.
That experience taught me something I have never forgotten.
People will often define you by a single weakness, a single mistake, or a single moment in your life.
But you don’t have to accept every label they hand you.
The world is eager to tell you who you are.
Advertisers will tell you what to buy so you can fit in.
Social media will tell you how you should look.
Friends may tell you how to act.
Political movements, celebrities, teachers, employers, and even strangers will try to define you.
They may tell you that you aren’t smart enough, attractive enough, wealthy enough, popular enough, or important enough.
If you listen long enough, you may begin to believe them.
You may become what others expect instead of becoming the person you were created to be.
So before the world fills in the blank for you, take the pencil.
Ask yourself:
What am I?
Then ask an even more important question:
What do I want to become?
You are more than a name, a number, a follower, a customer, a voter, a student, or a profile on a screen.
You are a human being with a mind, a conscience, strengths, weaknesses, dreams, and the freedom to choose.
You won’t control everything that happens to you.
But you can choose how you respond.
You can choose the principles you will live by.
You can choose whether hardship makes you bitter or makes you stronger.
The blank is yours to fill.
Choose carefully, because the choices you make today, repeated day after day, become your habits.
Your habits become your character.
And your character becomes your life.
— Edwin D. Winter
At Four Seasons Exterminating, we believe character matters. We work hard every day to treat our customers with honesty, respect, and integrity. If those are the values you’re looking for in a pest control company, we’d be honored to serve you.
