To my dearest brothers,
I started noticing your mistakes when I was 15 years old. I noticed earlier too, but I never paid
close attention. I grew up with the both of you, and you guys were very proud to have a little
sister, always made sure I was safe, and would protect me through anything. We are 10 and 11
years apart. The both of you still live in my house with my parents and me. I grew up thinking it’s
normal for siblings that are older; especially much years older to still live in their parent’s house
until someone would ask me about my brothers and ask how old you guys were and their
response would be, “They still live with you?!”, I would look at them with confusion and say,
“Yes of course they do”, But slowly over time, I realized that’s actually really out of the norm to
still live with your parents at your age. I would understand if our parents were sick and they
needed you guys to take care of them, but they don’t. The both of you only live here because
now you’ve grown accustomed to staying with mommy and daddy and having everything
handed to you. All you guys ever did was blame our parents for the way your life came out. You
guys started messing up with your life when you were 15 and 16 years old and I was only 5.
You started hanging out with the wrong people, shaving your heads, and not caring about your
education. The both of you are actually really intelligent. Sam, you could’ve gotten a scholarship
to UCLA when you were a freshman. They were already offering you to sign with them. Erik,
you’ve always earned straight A’s and had a couple choices of some really good colleges; not to
mention you guys have always been great at sports and could’ve had athletic scholarships. You
guys decided instead to turn to the toxic things in life saying you don’t care and blowing your
money off like nothing. You never got real jobs, or pursued a career. You will leave jobs so
easily like you have time to be quitting and being unemployed. You would quit over the most
minor reasons saying you don’t like the job instead of just sticking to it for a while to make
money. You guys started at community college around 23 years old. You guys only had one
year left and never even finished that. One is almost 29 and the other one is almost 28. You
guys still live with us. I have my life more in order than you guys do. Especially since I’m only 18
years old; I’m proud myself for not being like you guys. I might share some of the same
characteristics and mannerisms but definitely not the same mind set. I will be the first of our
parents' kids that they see walk down to get my diploma at graduation. I will be the first to go to
college and get my life started. I just want to say thank you for all your inspiring ways that show
me exactly who I want to be, which is nothing like you guys. You will always be my role models
for who I don’t want to be in life. Thank You.
sometimes the negative things in our life can influence us more powerfully than positive ones. Good for you for not wanting to be like them and choosing to make a life for yourself!
ReplyDeleteKarina I want to commend you for taking the reigns in your life and becoming an responsible, independent young adult. I feel that this transition to adulthood is something we all can relate to. Amazing Job!!!
ReplyDeleteYour piece was extremely powerful. It's amazing how you can really learn from others' mistakes and I'm glad you did. I commend the power and conviction of your voice in this piece; it in itself was inspiring.
ReplyDeleteKarina you know i will always be so proud of you, im glad you are proving everyone wrong and learned what was right from wrong. Keep it up I love you. -Lyndsey Ortega
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be super casual... that was low key savage, but it was a good kind of savage. I liked that you didn't sugar coat how they messed up their lives and I liked that you learned from their mistakes and have a good head on your shoulders. -Rachel Smith
ReplyDeleteWow I think this is such a powerful piece! I think its funny how we learn from the mistakes our siblings make and that inspires us to be better.
ReplyDeleteI believe that taking some negativity in your life and turning it into something positive and empowering is very admirable. This was such an amazing piece. Great job.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning I read this as writing a letter saying how glad you are that your brothers still live with you, but then it shifted and it was just so amazing and empowering. You are going to do fantastic things. I am so glad that you look at the negativity and know you don't want any part of it.
ReplyDeleteI congratulate you for realizing your brothers mistakes and using that to motivate you to not follow in their footsteps. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI can relate seeing the mistakes of my little brother, it's good to see how you didn't follow in their footsteps.
ReplyDeleteI really loved this piece, it was really good. Nice job!
ReplyDelete-Marlene Gonzalez
It's amazing to see how we learn from other's mistakes that they make in their life and how we make sure that we are not one to follow them and do the same thing. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteI think you are really great for recognizing the kind of habits that your brothers possess and determining that you want a life different than that. From this piece your responsibility and dedication are emphasized from you taking the initiative to prove that you can do better things with your life. Great Job Karina.
ReplyDeleteProving people wrong is one of the greatest things in my perspective. Good for you for standing up and deciding to set goals for yourself. I have family members just like your brothers and the only thing I think the same thing about them being the person I do not ever want to be. I like how you were real and didn't make your family seem like the "perfect" family. Great piece, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteKarina, you go girl! I love the determination and strength in your voice. I appreciate how you you keep a positive eye on life and your future. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was super powerful. It's always really great to see people who know who they want to be--or don't want to be. Especially if they learn from others' mistakes and recognize that they want something better and set goals for themselves. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very motivating piece. You keep going Karina! Push through all of the minor and major bumps. Thank you for sharing this personal story.
ReplyDeleteYou're a good sister! Sometimes that means telling your brothers what they need to hear, and not what they want to hear. I'm glad you turned their unfortunate outcomes as inspiration to take a different path in life. Maybe one day you'll inspire them to step up and make a change in their own lives. Thank you for sharing your story. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI adore this piece. I love reverse inspiration. Not everything inspiring is demanded to be done. Inspiration is just another form of motivation and I think its great that you have found inspiration and not influence from your brothers. I wish you the best in the future!(:
ReplyDeleteThis was so powerful. As a reader I could just feel all your anger and frustration toward your brothers. Excellent job, and I'm glad to see that you've become stronger as a result.
ReplyDeleteWow when I started reading this I thought it was going to be a cute little story about your brothers but I'm so glad I kept reading because my jaw dropped! I applaud your work, I can't even express in words how much I enjoyed this, great work! Most importantly, congratulations on being the one to make your parents proud
ReplyDeleteThis is a very inspirational piece to many who think they can't conquer anything because of the way they were raised or how life is at home. You go girl! I'm glad you see the importance of obtaining an education and seeing the negative aspects in your life as a form of motivation. I applaud you! -Alexis Chiong
ReplyDeleteThis is very relatable. I am also the youngest, and seeing all the mistakes my siblings have done acts like a barrier for myself. It really influenced me on to do better and be different. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThat was really good. I think that we always picture role models being nearly perfect, but I think that you did a good job turning this around. Sometimes it's better to learn from other people's mistakes than to follow their path.
ReplyDeletei really loved reading this. it is so great that you are able to go your own way and not take after how your older siblings are. it is so great that you do have that positive mindset and dedication to chase after your dreams. i found it very inspirational. Great job!
ReplyDeleteIt's great how you use something negative to be your motivation in life, not many people can do that and I'm really glad for you to be so determined and strong. Great work!
ReplyDeleteI always appreciate someone who is able to learn from other people's mistakes me on the other hand loves to learn thing the hard way. Your piece is beautifully written.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Morrison
Karina, your piece was amazing and super relatable because I'm going through the same thing with my 37 year old brother. I'm glad that you've chosen to break the cycle just as I have. Stay great hun ! -J'Noie Parker
ReplyDeleteI love how powerful this piece sounds. You decided to break the chain and be better than those before you. Sometimes we are inspired by positive influences and sometimes we are inspired by negative influences . Continue to better yourself. Good piece!
ReplyDeleteI love how you use the negative commentary towards your brothers as a positive aspect because it's benefiting you to know as you said that you have done way more and this is is what i can relate to with cousins or uncles.
ReplyDeleteAs a friend I know all the ambition you have and how strong willed you are. Your family does not define you at all but I am so proud of you for using your brothers as motivation to be better. No matter what their mistakes are, they are not yours. I only wish you the best in the future! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love how you turned a bad situation into a positive. I'm happy you learned from your brothers and you are using that to better your life and make sure you don't go down the same pathway as them. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteThis piece is absolutely relatable. Especially haveing two older brothers and having one mess his life knowing that that's a path I wouldn't want to go down so you described everything so perfectly god job !
ReplyDeleteI really commend you for sharing such a personal piece because I can relate to your emotions towards your brothers who are supposed to be your role models. I love how you look at it from a better perspective and choose to make better decisions in life. Great work.
ReplyDeleteI can relate after hearing about all the mistakes that my family members have made. I loved how you're determined to be successful and reach your goals.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice seeing a connection between siblings, though, not exactly a sweet setting, but it's nice seeing you grow from them. -Francis Talla
ReplyDeleteThe people around us are the ones that have the biggest impact to our decisions, and you decided not to follow that path. I admire your strength to achieve something that you're proud of.
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