“Did you just say? You have the right to become an attorney?”

“You do have the right to be an attorney if you want to be”.

This simple line might confuse some people but between my sister and I it’s a inside joke that kept us laughing since 2012.  21 Jump Street a movie featuring two idiots name Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum who created many jokes in the movie that later turned out to be the jokes that helped us grow more closer. Crystal Michelle Collado is my 23 year old sister who has brown eyes, long black/brown hair, 5’7,and has a sense of humor that can always keep you laughing. When you first meet her she looks very serious, and hardworking. Not a lot of people see the humorous and fun side of her because she’s always busy doing homework, paying taxes or at work. She’s always occupied but it either involves helping my mom take care of us or trying to make it through college. I admire Crystal so much because she makes me believe that I actually can achieve so much in my life.

On May 10th I remember waking up and thinking “Wow, Crystal is actually graduating today with her bachelors degree!”. Crystal has gone to college of UIC for four years and she finally is graduating. In August she’s going to be attending Cincinnati Ohio for her to be able to attend Cincinnati she has to move out and find her own apartment. As I’m walking in the auditorium I see over 200 people making there way to the seats that are closer to the stage. I ran from my family with my best friend Sonya beside me trying to reach a row of seats that is perfectly seated across from the students. When Sonya and I reached the seats, we started to spread out our stuff while we waited for the rest of my family to arrive. Once my family reached the seats we had to wait one hour because they were still setting up the stage, the band started to play and the students started to walk out in one huge line separating in two once they reach the seats that are in seated in the middle of the auditorium. My family and I stand trying to catch a glimpse of Crystal as I spot her a warmth of pride started to spread throughout my body. This pride that grew inside of me made me realize that Crystal deserves this moment right now because she worked so hard and nobody deserves this as much as her. Crystal walks right past us but we start to cheer “ GO CRYSTAL!” she starts to turn red in the cheeks from the  embarrassment but I know that she loves the affection we’re showing her because you can see the gratification in our eyes. Once the Students are all seated we sit down waiting for the first speaker to start . It’s been 2 hour of non stop speeches and the names of the students have started to be called finally we hear “Crystal Collado” my heart stops I can feel a dam of Pride, Happiness , Gratitude and even love start to shove it’s way into my heart I never have been more proud of My sister in my entire life but on this very day I knew that she was my inspiration. After all the names have been called I hear “This is your class of 2014!” I jump to my feet and start hollering “ Yeah Crystal!”. Everyone in the room is cheering with happiness or crying it finally hit us all that these students in front of us worked day and night  to be in this position.

Everyone has challenges they need to face before they finally achieve something in their life. Crystal had to sacrifice so much of her teenage years just to take care of my two sisters and I . My mom is a single mom trying to take care of four kids but she also had to handle going to work and taking care of my grandmother. Crystal decided to step in and work at an early age to help support us. She started working but juggling to keep her grades up at the same time was very difficult but she dealt with it. After graduating from Glenbrook South she applied for Harrington College a school for her second major as an interior designer. She received a 5,000 dollar scholarship for a drawing of a floor plan that she had designed. After attending the school for 1 year she decided to do her first major as an Architect instead because it would  take longer to complete (4-9 years). She applied at University of Illinois Chicago and got accepted. She managed to commute 1 ½ to 2 hours from home to school Mon-Fri while working at a Neuroscience Center. Crystal started applying for scholarships, entering contest, and staying up several days at a time to build and design projects for her finals. Since she just graduated with her Bachelors she’s going to Ohio to complete her masters in Cincinnati. Just recently starting school in August she’s working on a project that made second round in a contest for a scholarship that can really help her with money problems. Crystal is currently working on finding an intern in different states for the next semester. She also has changed her second major to open her own office in either Chicago, Boston, or California.  She had recently found an apartment that she just moved into but her money is a little tight from having no job because the intern is going to take up her time. These challenges are just obstacle that she had to face or she still facing today but these don’t stop her from reaching her dream.

“Join activity now because colleges really look into that now” Crystal always pushes me to join clubs or volunteer because she says that colleges really like people who are into working with the school or working around the community. When I was younger I used to get nervous thinking about college because I was scared of leaving my mom and becoming my own person. Now that I’m older and have looked into college I’m prepared to start applying. Crystal has taught me to apply  to any colleges I’m interested and never let anyone stop me from achieving my dreams. She say’s that I should never let someone put me down because I can achieve so much in life.

I never had anyone to look up in my life besides my mom and famous people but once I got older I realized that I always had looked up to Crystal. She’s hardworking, passionate, determine, loyal and honest. I’m so proud to call her my sister because she worked so hard to be where she is now. All these obstacles that she had to face helped her reach the success that she finally achieved. My sister Crystal Collado is my hero.