My sister and I are complete opposites. Though she is one year younger, she is much taller. She can make instantaneous friends, whereas I take a little more time to warm up to people. She plays percussion instruments; I play stringed instruments. She likes to watch action and adventure shows with the main character fighting off some evil antagonist, while I prefer children and family movies with the protagonist living the fairy tale ending. She likes pasta, and I like pizza. With a myriad of differences, one would expect my sister and I to never get along well with each other. Now, we do fight, just not as much as everyone expects us to. We fight about the petty things like when to respond with haha or lol, but when it comes to the major things we maintain a strong front.

My parents always repeated to us, “Together we stand, divided we fall.” They told us that as long as we stood up for each other, nobody could ever do any harm to us. I remember when I was younger, I would get bullied a lot, especially in the third grade. There was a mean fifth grader who always called me stupid, and for me at that time, stupid was the "s" word, while shut up was unspeakable. One time, my sister was next to me in the cafeteria, and the bully started calling me names again. My sister, offended, spit out, “Whoever says that someone else is stupid, is stupid themselves.” The bully, traumatized, left me alone, thinking that I had crazy friends, and it was finally nice to know somebody had my back. (Eventually, that phrase became our defense whenever people would call us mean names.) By standing up for me, I learned that I could always rely on my sister through the turmoils of life. By sticking up for each other, we were stronger as a team than as individuals.

One important thing to know, is that having a sister and bonding with a sister are two different things. While having a sister can be fun because you can always enjoy each other’s company, bonding with a sister is much more important. When bonding with a sister, there is a certain amount of commitment that must be invested. Our personal favorite was on-the-whim sleepovers. We would discuss about what we (as 11-year-olds) felt was important about the world until late at night, as we slept in sleeping bags. Though what we had to say might not have been that important, when we were able to vocalize our opinions to each other, we were able to grasp what we felt was right, thus enhancing our connection. By understanding what the other person felt and their views on certain aspects of life, we were able to spend less time fighting and more time empathizing with each other. I believe that is one key reason why our relationship is so unique.

By being a sister, I am constantly surrounded by novel experiences. My sister is really into exercise, whereas before last year I wasn’t. But with her help, I started partaking in a more active lifestyle. We started running together and working out at the gym. While exercising is one part of an active lifestyle, ones dietary intake also plays a significant role in enjoying the comforts of a healthy life. My sister loves experimenting with food, so I always end up being her personal taste tester. Sometimes the food turns out great, but other times, not so much. (Remember the avocado chocolate mousse?) However, I was able to make myself think dynamically and live a more holistic lifestyle, all because of my sister.

By being with my sister, I learned so much about being a part of a team, which meant always bringing out the best in each other. I am grateful to have someone to share my childhood experiences and to share the rest of my journey through life. Together, we are united and invincible.