Topic: Do You Have Any Siblings? Please Tell Us about Your Memorable Moments with Them.
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Seo Min Kang
I have a sister who is three years older than me. She has a huge burden having been the firstborn. Apparently she does not seem so, but she studied and entered university to major in a field she does not really have an aptitude for so she won’t let her parents down. As we know, doing something you do not like is really difficult. Also my sister and I have something in common : we do not even take a look at things we do not like. My sister tends to do so much more than I do. As a result, she could not get good grades in her studying.
Recently, she asked for my opinion. She thinks it would be better to have a leave of absence from school the following semester. Since she got such bad grades this semester, now she is not even sure if she can be given the state scholarship. In fact, she already had a plan on preparing for the civil service exam during the break.
I told to her, “That depends only on you. It is not my life but your life. If you want to prepare for civil service exam, do it at your own risk, not at any other’s. Do you really want to be a civil servant or is it just because you don’t have anything you like to do?”
She answered it is the latter. At the same time, I was reminded of something that happened in my high school days. On that day, I have once asked my sister about what she likes to do in the future. However she could not give me an answer. I asked again, “What do you want to do?”. “Nothing,” She answered after a second. “You didn’t put any effort on finding what you want to do. Try to find what you really like to do,” I said. “I am senior now. It’s too late. Plus, our family is so poor someone – either you or me – has to earn money,” she answered.
When I heard her answer, I got really angry. She was only 23 years old at that time. Is 23 late? For what?
I told her, “Sister, even If you start studying at the age of 30, it is never late. You can achieve anything you want. In my university, one of our professors went abroad to study to get master’s degree and became a professor at 40. One of my friends could not go to university because of her low grades and went to Australia for Working Holiday last November. She came back only two months later not even fulfilling half of her one year plan. Others might think it is a failure but she does not feel any shame for her life. Now she found what she want to do and started to study, to become a barista,” I added there.
“How old are you, sister? You are only 23 years old! What is late? 23 years old is an age to start! Of course you can think senior in university is really late to start something. It is only 23. If 23 is really old to start something new, there can never be any challenge in the world. Whatever you choose, it depends only on you; but please do not ever say you are late to start something. You are such a valuable person who has a potential to achieve anything you want!”
She cried. I did not know why she cried. Also I did not know if my words had ever worked on her either. One thing was for sure though, that I told her everything - even things I felt too shy to tell her in the past. I tried my best to give her my advice for her life. Those words might be looked upon as useless ones in my sister’s future life. Nevertheless, this was the first time I did my best on something serious regarding my sister’s matter. I would never forget this day.
