Overcoming Sibling Rivalry by Danielle

Overcoming Sibling Rivalry by Danielle - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

For as long as I could remember, I was always attempting to live up to the standards my older brothers held. Through sports and school, I never thought that I had the ability to go my own way and pursue an alternate path. Because I followed in their very footsteps to the same teachers and classes, I was constantly confronted with numerous comments about their past success stories and their incredible scores on state tests of all kinds.
Entering into my senior year, I decided to enroll in the most difficult math class my school had to offer, AP Calculus. Going in, I had convinced myself that I was an excellent math student and would not have a hard time because my older brother went through fine, one of the best students the teacher had seen to be specific. Sadly, as I neared the end of the first quarter, I was left with a B, a score I would never allow myself to receive. This instance allowed me to step back and observe my situation, and how I would resolve it. I came to understand that whatever my brothers did in high school and beyond was not necessarily what I was confined to do. I am my own person and should be following a path I design, one where the end brings me to a happy place in life. Luckily, I was able to think about my motivation, and why I was in the class from the first place. I plan to become a Veterinarian in the future, so instead of envisioning my brother and his life, I illustrated a future version of myself caring for animals, a reality that gave me a much needed boost. By re-establishing my goals and why I must reach them, I was able to focus and attain a high A for the rest of the year, a task most students in my class were unable to reach.
Now, I am thriving in my courses because I was able to set my eyes on what I wanted, explaining to myself that all of this is going to be worth it soon enough. In order to truly excel in anything, one must decide early on where they plan to be and how to do so, and it just so happens that my high school Calculus class allowed me to do just that.