Refined Rough Draft Topic C, Maybe A. “Don’T Worry, You’Re

In “I’m Not My Brother; I’m Me,” author Peg Kehret expresses the expectations passed down from her two older brothers and how these expectations impacted her. From my point of view, I fully agree with the author. In my case, I have a 23-year old sister who is the epitome of perfection. She graduated top of her class in both high school and university, is athletic, and is currently working on Wall Street in New York City. In addition, she is very diligent at Chinese, public speaking, and ultimately anything related to school. As a result of this, as one can imagine, I have constantly lived in her long shadow. My sister is a very goal-oriented person and strives to reach them. She knew exactly what she wanted to be and the path she had to take

In “I’m Not My Brother; I’m Me,” author Peg Kehret expresses the expectations passed down from her two older brothers and the negative impacts these expectations had on her. From my point of view, I fully agree with the author. In my case, I have a 23-year old sister who is the epitome of perfection. She graduated top of her class in both high school and university, is athletic, and is currently working on Wall Street in New York City. In addition, she is very diligent at Chinese, public speaking, and ultimately anything related to school. As a result of this, as one can imagine, I constantly live in her long shadow. My sister is a very goal-oriented person and strives to reach them. She knew exactly what she wanted to be and the path she had to take to get there at a very young age. Throughout

In my family I am the youngest of 5 children. I was able to learn a lot of things from my older siblings. I learned that reaching out to those that are younger than you or different than you means a lot because you are showing love in a way they didn’t expect. I have tried to implement this as I have gotten older and become leader, example, and even sister-figure to younger people at school. I look forward to reaching out and serving a different set of people and friends as I go to college. I also followed one of my brother's examples and started running. Running cross country is one of the most valuable experiences of my high school experience because it made me work hard, learn to love others, and helped me to learn about how to deal with

I kept on telling myself that my grades didn’t define me and I was great student.

From the very beginning of my academic career, I have always valued my school work and its importance. Throughout my life, I have constantly had to deal with people underestimating my work ethic and just assuming that I do not have to do anything for the good grades that I receive. Although my hard work and effort goes unnoticed by most, it is important to me because it is

Everything I did in life was to either exceed my brothers accomplishments or at least try to do what he did. I felt like the attention given to my brother by my parents and the piers around us wasn't shared with me. Every time I did something, if it wasn't as good, or better than my brother it felt as if everyone was disappointed in me. This became apart of my life, living in his shadow. When I started my high school wrestling career my freshman and sophmore season, I was constantly compared to my brother and how well he did those years. I felt I was never good enough and my goals were never set high enough. I wasn't as physically fit as he was. I felt like he was the golden child and I was the younger sibling that was just okay.

“It’s not counted for anything so why should I try?” This was my state of mind during Junior High school. I was getting C’s and D’s, at the time; it was fine I was getting by. But what I wasn’t learning is how to study and do homework like a good student.

Giving precedence to my family while being a college student and studying for the medical college admissions test, although a noble sacrifice, has required me to work longer and harder to prove my desire to be a physician. I have identified my strengths and weaknesses through the choices I have made when faced with obstacles. My ability to embrace challenges, find resolutions, and be a leader will translate nicely into my career. In combination with my empathy and ability to care for others, these qualities will make me a better, more compassionate

Furthermore, I still remember my fourth grade teacher ridiculing me because I was having difficulty in class. When I approached her and asked for help she said, “YOU KNOW WHAT SYED, JUST FORGET IT AND DON’T DO IT.” That line affected me tremendously and I went home from that school day disheartened. At that point, I started to question myself and wondered if I was insipid. Still, I continued to receive poor grades even in middle school and thought to myself, “Syed you have tried and nothing is working out.” I was hurt and sad seeing many people get good grades while I was struggling. Then, things started to get better for me because in 9th grade I had assiduous teachers who encouraged me to try and so I studied and practice and did practically all the things to help me be successful in every class. I began to see my grade improve and steadily rise into high 80’s. In addition, I also received a lot of support and reinforcement from my parents and sibling which gave me inspiration. I was happy and started to think that if I was able to get grades in 80’s then why not 90 or above. I was tempted and motivated and those two feelings made a good combination to push me to strive for my goal. With hard work throughout the 9-11th grade I had a weighted 94% as

When I was younger, I’ve always done well in school. I got things done and did them well, got high scores, and that’s how I got into the gifted program. Only a few months ago I started questioning my efforts.

As a child I would run throughout the house doctoring up my mother with band aids, my brother with an ace bandage and my father with a painless shot. After several years of providing ‘medical care’ to my family, my childhood dream became a goal. From this point forward, my father posed the question: “where do you wish to attend college to attain your goal?” and my aspirations began to take shape. Knowing that The University of Oklahoma had an extraordinary medical program, I strived to better myself in order to achieve my childhood aspirations. Since these early days of youthful hopes, my identity is found in my dedication to become a

My parents are extremely supportive of my dreams and have always told me I could do whatever I wanted as long as I was passionate and devoted to it. Also, being accepted into the medical internship program I participated in my senior year of high school along with my acceptance and scholarship to Gonzaga University are just two examples of some opportunities I’ve been lucky enough to have. Despite my opportunities, I’ve also faced some very difficult challenges in my life that could have stopped me from coming to college or living a normal life. Seddon’s interaction with her family pediatrician reminds me of a less extreme challenge I experienced when the photographer who was updating my comp card and head shots for modeling told me that I was too beautiful to waste my time dreaming of going to medical school and “shouldn’t waste my pretty face”. Just like Seddon, I didn’t let this affect me and instead added it to my list of drives to continue my dream. A more extreme challenge I’ve had to face is living with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and undergoing trauma therapy. Luckily, I’ve had a wonderful support system and this has only further inspired me to follow my

It was brought to my attention therefore I wouldn’t able to spend enough time with them as I would like to; due to the adjustment of the schedule, I had to run on. Day by day I grew more miserable as I felt like I didn’t understand as well as my peers did. Moreover, they were much faster learners than I was and I felt dumb compared to them. As well as, I felt like I was missing out at home. However, that made me work ten times harder to achieve better. However, I knew that if I would increase my level of work ethic my grades would then begin to reflect upon it; I was right. Through my hard work in conjunction with determination I became one of the top honors students of my class.

As a kid, I wanted nothing more to be like my sister; the perfect child any parent could ask for. However, like most younger siblings, sparks of sibling rivalry thrived in my heart. So after each failure, my parents’ advice served as my only condolence: “Your sister may beat you now, but with enough practice you will grow to be just as strong by her age”. Keeping my parent’s words in the back of my mind, I focused my rivalry on my sister’s schoolwork, test scores, and social life from when she was my age. I strived to surpass her image from the past.

I put so little effort into what I was doing, and the school just kept giving me good grades, and essentially said: