My Genius Sister by Zachary

My Genius Sister by Zachary - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

Ever since she was a kid, my sister Emma McPherson was always the smart one. She was walking at the age I was crawling. She knew how to spell her name in the time I was still learning the alphabet. When we were in elementary school, she got very advanced on everything while I either received average or above average. This isn’t an essay on how she was so much better than me at everything, which she was, but how she inspired me to go farther and harder on my education to compete. I used her for competition to make me work harder and study more to be at the level she was or close to it. She always gave me something to work for, always gave me something to achieve to be. She gave me incentive to try. My sister, Emma, is my role model. She is the smartest person I know and I work extra hard and study just a little extra to try and reach her level. When she would easily ace a test, I saw that as encouragement and a little friendly family competition to achieve the same grade when my time came. I would stay up way past my bedtime just studying and running through everything from YouTube videos to online textbooks to quizlets. If I came close to her grade I saw that as a victory. If I fell short, I would try and do better the next two tests. My sister gave me a work ethic that no teacher or adult could convince me to have. Her insane level of genius and her demanding work ethic showed me how to live. My first two years of high school, however, I began to fall short. I was taking a class she had taken and my grades were not the greatest. I saw myself as a failure because no matter how hard I studied I could never come close. I blamed it on her for making me set up these insane expectations for myself. My work ethic and attitude became shameful. It wasn't until the end of my sophomore year that I walked by my sisters room and saw her crying from stress about the SAT. I saw her moment of vulnerability. This showed me that she, like me, was human. That she wasn't just easily passing her tests, that she did not pass her classes without a hitch. She worked hard and just like me she felt overwhelmed sometimes. I took a look at myself in disgust and instantly changed my work ethic. I became the student and person I wanted to be because of my sister and her moment of vulnerability. I owe it all to my sister. My sister is the reason why I got accepted into college, is the reason why I will graduate high school, and is the reason I’m not a total idiot. My sister helped me for my good grades and my work ethic and for that I am eternally grateful and indebted to her.