I would never say that my aptitude for photography is my own doing. It's all thanks to my dad. Whenever we'd go on family trips, he'd sometimes give me his big camera to take photos of him and mom and whatever else I wanted to shoot. He's a professional photographer, though he doesn't do as many shoots anymore, so his equipment has become more like mine.
When I was in about the eighth grade, he gave me one of his old Canons and a couple lenses. I went on to use that camera in Singapore, San Francisco, and my subsequent travels. Singapore demonstrated my eye for a good photo, both to me and my family, in such a way that I HAD to accept that I had a knack for it. I liked how I just found it so easy to take a decent photo. Before I even press the shutter button, I can imagine what I want to show up on my screen. It just felt natural. And from there, it just took off.
I'm more than lucky to not just have access to the gear to capture moments in high fidelity, but someone with experience who can teach me outside of a classroom. To that man, I owe a lot.