<p>I bet you want to follow in your sisters footsteps, dont you? People have asked me this question a million times, and each time the answer is No, not really. While my sister does influence what I do in certain ways, it is not to the degree that everyone thinks. My sister, hardworking and intelligent, has won several academic awards in high school, attended a highly selective college, and is currently in her second year of medical school. Although I find that my sisters influence on me lies closer to her attributes than her accomplishments.
While everyone expects to hear me say that I want to attend a highly selective college and then become a doctor, like my sister, they are all shocked when I say that I dont. After having attended the same grammar school and high school, participated in many similar activites, and found interests in the same studies, everyone assumed our life goals to be the same as well. My sister has cast a shadow upon me so that everywhere I come short is illuminated by the light. Its been difficult to live my own life with the high expectations of everyone. It is for this reason that I try to find my own niche. In a way, my sisters influence on me has caused me to develop into a well-rounded person. It is because of her and my goal to set myself apart from her that I found passions in running, art, and the inevitably similar, the sciences. In the latter years of high school, I began realizing that I didnt have a personality that truly described me and just me and not my sister as well. Running was a stress reliever that became dedication to a team. Art was a required class that turned into an expression of feelings. Science was a favorite class that turned into a goal for the future. All these things started as something insignificantthings I did on the side--to who I was but turned into things that I use to describe myself today.
While I say that I dont want to follow in my sisters footsteps, doesnt mean that I dont want to imitate her qualities. The things that have gotten her so far in life werent slacking off, doing the minimum, or giving up, but rather working hard, doing more than whats required, and persevering through tough times. I have brought all these qualities to heart in my academic and extracurricular lives. Throughout high school, I have always challenged myself not to receive the same awards as my sister or get into the same schools, but to work my hardest so that I can accomplish what I want in my life. My interest in the sciences has brought me to challenging classes that I hope will ultimately bring me to a career in pharmacy. My goal to go to pharmacy school is what fuels me to always take the hardest classes, put the time and effort into them, and come out with both a good grade and a better understanding of the subject topic. Along with academics are the extra-curriculars. My attention for detail drives me to achieve perfection in art. It is not only the aesthetic qualities that drive me to art but the unveiling of the finished product. That finished product, similar to where I want to end up in life, is a reflection of the hard work and dedication that is put into it.
While I have created my own niche in high school, I still feel the overhanging shadows of my sister. However, this overhanging shadow no longer hides my pursuits and achievements but reminds me where hard work and perseverence will take me. Numerous times my sister has told me the difficulties and challenges she has met in medical school, but numerous times she has also told me of the amazing feeling when she has made an accomplishment, whether that be volunteering in a hospital in the Dominican Republic or simply passing a test. By keeping this in mind, I remember that it is the result of my own hard work that I will find success.</p>