Freshman year in high school I was what the upperclassmen called an “ultimate freshman.” I got lost, wore the wrong things, ran the wrong way, and worst of all took WAY too many selfies. I was a walking disaster. Luckily for me, there was this big sister- little sister program that paired me with an upperclassman from my cross country team and she was in charge of looking out for me. Without the help of my big sister I do not know where I would be. I would just like to say thank you to all big sisters out there who do a lot to protect and encourage their little sisters.

My big sister did a lot for me. In cross country and track my big sister made ridiculous posters for my locker for every single meet I had. These posters made me feel so special and important and I loved walking past my locker and catching others reading the posters which were filled with nothing but good things about me. Then my sister also made me what we called “meet bags.” In those meet bags she gave me snacks, fancy vitamin drinks, and notes of encouragement. Every meet, I felt like I was important and that I was fully supported no matter how I did.

At parties, my big sister taught me to be mature. Remember the selfies I mentioned? Yeah, I took many selfies at parties. I would take people’s phones and run around taking hundreds, sometimes thousands of selfies. My big sister never scolded me or changed her phone setting so I could not access her camera. Instead, she started sharing my ridiculous selfies and then I realized that they were pretty crazy and I mostly calmed down. She also taught me to never be afraid to dance. As a freshman, I was definitely the person who stood in the corner of the party and watched everyone else dance. My sister would have none of that. She made sure I was always on the dance floor and soon I learned that dancing was so much fun and it gave me more confidence. Thanks to my big sister, when I went to other parties, I was one of the first people on the dance floor; I was finally one of the people that the corner standers wished they had the confidence to be.

My sister helped me do things my underclassman status prevented me from doing. For example, as a freshman, I could not drive. I relied on my mom to go everywhere, but sometimes my mom was not available. Despite the fact that I live across town from my big sister, she was always the first person to offer me a ride home or anywhere my mom could not take me. I knew I could always count on my big sister to save the day.

At school, my big sister taught me to aim high. As the ultimate freshman I was barely involved in school sports and clubs. My big sister was in 20 clubs, editor of the school yearbook, and had an ACT score of 34. I looked up to my big sister so much that I joined more clubs and applied for leadership positions and I signed up for AP classes and I worked hard in school. This year I took the ACT and just like my big sister I got a 34. Without my big sister, I would not have realized how little I was involved in school or how much potential I had.

Now my big sister is going away to college at Northwestern University. I am going to miss her like crazy. School, running, and weekends will not be the same while she is gone. Thanks to her help over the past two years though, I know I will no longer need her. She has taught me how to be an upperclassman and a big sister myself.