Hometown: Minot, North Dakota, USA

High School: Public school, 449 students in graduating class

Ethnicity: White

Gender: Female

GPA: 4.0 out of 4.0

SAT: n/a

ACT: 35

SAT Subject Tests Taken: Mathematics Level 2, Biology E/M

Extracurriculars: Track and field athlete, volleyball athlete, debate co-captain, Envirothon participant, National Honor Society participant

Awards: National Merit Scholar, North Dakota Scholar, North Dakota Academic All State Gold Team, runner up state debate, U.S. Representative XI International Junior Forest Contest

Major: Integrative Biology

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Family is everything, right? For me, this is especially true. My oldest brother, David, has Asperger’s Syndrome. As experts calculated that one out of every 150 babies born in 1995 were born on the Autism spectrum, David had a 0.67 percent chance of having Asperger’s. That is, there was a less than one percent chance that he would be excluded and bullied for his eccentricities. There was a less than one percent chance that he would be unable to communicate his extensive knowledge. There was a less than one percent chance that I would have to be a big sister to my older brother. For seventeen years I have lived with and loved my fascinating yet frustrating eldest sibling. I felt sympathy for him, but also admiration. I was amazed by his ability to choose any topic and understand every aspect with tre- mendous ease. Dinosaurs were his childhood passion and he could identify every skeleton in a museum by the time he was six. While other families traveled to Disneyland, ours visited dinosaur museums. In hopes of absorbing even a small portion of his plethora of information, I stayed at his side on all of his adventures. I looked up at him in awe as he counted the cervical vertebrae of the Apatosaurus and listened intently as he read aloud about the wings of the Archaeopteryx. Together we studied the sediment layers of the Badlands and searched below the KT Boundary for bones. I tagged along, wide-eyed and dreaming of someday becoming as knowledgeable as he was. These experiences ignited my love for science, nature, history, and discovery. As much as I wanted to be like him, this desire was selective. Because of his Asperger’s, David had difficulty handling unforeseen circumstances. Many times I was forced to assume control of situations, regardless of my age. Once, on a winter morning many years ago, David and I got into a car accident. The stress was too much for him to handle and he broke down; I was left alone. I took a deep breath, stumbled out of the mangled car, and assumed control of the situation. As I navigated the protocol for car accidents, David remained cemented to his seat, slamming his palms on the steering wheel and bawling uncontrollably. I will never forget the looks of confusion and sympathy I received that day. Experiences similar to this taught me to accept responsibility and remain composed under stress. These situations were not the only time David’s inability to conform to societal norms was exposed. During school, he endured bullying and exclusion for his quirks. It was heartbreaking to witness classmates treat him viciously because he was different. It angered me greatly, and I vowed that I would never be a bystander to intolerance. I learned to speak out against injustice and inequality and to stand up for those who could not. Despite my best efforts, some hateful words always slipped past my defense. As a result, my big sister duties did not end in the hallways. At home, many nights were spent defusing the ticking bomb fueled by his bad day. I let his screaming, malicious comments slide off my shoulders. I reciprocated his hate with love and comfort. Weathering these nights taught me to remain peaceful in the face of anger and hostility. Although he may never realize it, my brother permanently and drastically influenced my life in a variety of ways. He encouraged my love of knowledge, ability to assume control, desire to advocate equality, and strength to stay compassionate. Thanks, big brother.

REVIEW

The strength in this essay lies in the different examples and anecdotes Allison shares about her brother. In these specific stories, we can see the ways in which David influenced the writer and shaped her as a person. In the specific anecdotes, we as readers are able to follow along and see how exactly David influenced Allison. The story reaches a pivotal moment when Allison describes the time she and her brother got in a car accident, and she had to step up to solve a problem that her brother was unable to handle. Through this story, Allison demonstrates maturity beyond her years and her ability to handle stress.

Allison’s solid narrative storytelling draws the reader in, and her thoughtful and raw descriptions of her brother, in particular, give the reader a vivid image of his personality. The only shortcoming of this essay is that it is written in one big paragraph—a separation of the anecdotes into separate paragraphs would have made the essay a bit easier to follow along. Structure aside, this essay speaks to Allison’s personal growth as the “big sister” to her older brother.

From 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays, 5th Edition edited by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson. Copyright (c) 2017 by the authors and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.