Growing Up When I Just Wanted to Be a Kid by Samantha

Growing Up When I Just Wanted to Be a Kid by Samantha - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

Most high school girls are into shopping, hanging out with friends, playing ball, studying: normal "teenage" things. But in my house, I didn't always have that luxury. We moved here to Oklahoma when I was in 6th grade. By the time I started high school, life had taken a pretty drastic change. Throughout my 7th - 8th grade year, my life as a "normal" teenager had changed. My older brother started having unexplained seizures, and in the years following, he went through every unimaginable test trying to discover its cause. I learned a very valuable lesson during those years, and that was that life isn't always centered around me, and responsibility can be important at any age.
When I started high school as a freshman, they discovered that his seizures were caused by a non-malignant brain tumor. Everything changed. He had been put on medications to deal with his seizures to control them, and eventually, he faced brain surgery. While he was dealing with his countless pills and numerous doctor's visits, my dad was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Since my older brother was sick and my dad was gone, I had to do whatever I could to help hold our family together to deal with both the separation and the sickness. I had to be the "older" sister and take care of my younger brother as well when needed.
I never really knew if my brother would have a seizure during the night and we would have to take him to the hospital or if his depression would kick in and cause other problems with behaviors at home. He also had lots of problems at school because of his medication and I had to deal with his anger issues and try to calm him down and explain to others that he had medical problems he was dealing with. Following his brain surgery, I was able to help him readjust to his new normal life. It took up to his graduation, and even still is an issue away from home now that he is at college.
Growing up quickly, the value of being responsible carried over into my own life in school and at home. I still worry about my brother, but since he is no longer in the house, I find myself wanting to shop, or hang with my friends, or just be a "normal" teenage kid. I realize there are much worse problems kids sometimes have to deal with, but this is my story. This whole situation has helped me become more aware of what pressures are on parents and how I am just one of their many concerns. Whether I needed to get to my club volleyball games, or if I needed help with my homework, some of my problems seemed insignificant when compared to those my brother had to deal with and I think it helped me be a better sister. I know it will help me when I have kids of my own.