Dream school: Cal Poly SLO

[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap] was a timid five year old girl going into kindergarten for the first time but was also giddy with excitement because I knew school was the place my three older siblings went every day since I could remember. I have always looked up to siblings and wanted to be just like them growing up. My brother, Joseph, had the brains; my oldest sister, Catherine, had the looks; and my other sister, Cece, had both. However, as I got older that feeling faded and I wanted to become my own person with my own strengths and weaknesses. The only problem was everyone else didn’t want the same thing for me. I was pushed to be just like Cece and judged harshly if I wasn’t. This is one of the hardest challenges I have faced.

Growing up I was pushed strongly to get the same grades as my sister and be as good of a daughter. I constantly heard, “Be more like Cece,” by my parents and my relatives and my teachers. I always felt as though I was not good enough for anyone, especially my parents. Knowing that everyone has a favorite and that it isn’t you takes its toll on a person. I did what any young, naive person would do: I tried my hardest to become just like my sister. My goal was and still is to make my parents proud of me like they are of her. I worked very hard in school to get principal’s honor roll every year in middle school just like she did. I wanted to become thin just like her and tried to achieve that with not the healthiest way. And I wasn’t able to become my own person because I was too busy trying to become her.

As I entered high school I came to the realization that I am not who I want to be so tried the obvious solution: become better than Cece. I took the honors classes she didn’t because now I have to be smarter than Cece. I started to play water polo because she never played a sport and I wanted to be more than thin. As time went on I started working hard not because I wanted to be better than Cece but because I wanted to be better than myself. I got straight A’s and took three AP classes my junior year not because it’s something that Cece never did but because I developed the drive to work hard and challenge myself with everything I do. Having a sister who is the favorite was not as bad as it seems; if it weren’t for her I wouldn’t have the drive and knowledge I have today.