My family labels me “the baby.” It’s not the name given to me on my birth certificate but one of the numerous nicknames that were given to me. I grew up with an eight, nine and eleven year difference between my siblings and me. Growing up, I am constantly being compared to my siblings by my parents and called “spoiled.”
Having role models to live up to is not easy. My actions are scrutinized. It forces me to think before I act.
I have trouble branching off on my own. There is an expectation that I should play the same sports, get the same grades, and go to the same college as them.
University of Minnesota Twin Cities has been the family college ever since my oldest sister went there when I was eight and my brother and other sister followed shortly after. Putting together my 21 ACT score and 3.5 GPA gives me a slim chance of getting in. To go in a different direction is like jumping and hoping the landing is safe.
I can always hear my mother saying, “You know that your sister had GPA of over a 4.0 in high school.” Her words replay in my head when ever I check my grades. It never seems good enough to them, for they have to remind me of my sister’s stellar grades in high school.

The success of a sister with a masters in international education studies, a brother with a masters in architecture, and a sister who works for a successful designer in New York City makes the challenge to live up to them difficult. Having a brother who was in two varsity sports in high school doesn't make me being on my JV tennis special. Their outstanding academics and athleticism sets the bar higher for me and creates a larger challenge.
Once you have the mindset of what your siblings do, it is hard to even want to take a risk and change










































Seeing things work out for others gives me a reinsurance that it will work out for me as well.
Now I am almost 18 and still I am referred to as “the baby.” No matter how old I get, I will always be the younger sister that is eight, nine or eleven steps behind them. It may not always be easy to be compared to such successful people, but it gives me a challenge to live up to.
It may feel like I am not good enough or that I don’t fit in this family sometimes, but when I look back on how far I come I realize my place in this family. It’s not the oldest smart one, the favorite son, or the artsy successful designer, but rather my own person in the making: “the baby.”