Younger sibling overshadowed needing ADVICE

cheers
Thu, 11 Nov 2004 22:51:49 +0000

High school is a tiny tiny part of life. There is danger in peaking early and there is no guarantee that a life will continue peak to peak. The odds are against it.

I’m the oldest of six. Grwoing up, one B seemed so much better than the rest of us. He was so good, we nicknamed him ‘Baby Jesus’. He was valedictorian. He founded the African American club at his school (he isn’t African American). The premier piano teacher took him as a student–but not me. He thrilled my parents by getting into their favorite university. He was the Sun God at home and at school.

On the other hand, I was a disciplinary–though well read–handful in elementary school and a mediocre–though well read–student in high school. Not quite valedictorian, my rank was something like 100th out of 120. I forget. I didn’t get into the architecture school of my choice until they lost their minds and took me off the wait list in…August! :)

That early trajectory didn’t continue. I picked up momentum and he struggled to come to terms with a world that didn’t measure up to his standards; Sun God standards he swallowed whole when he was too young to know better.

This is one personal story, but I’m sure there are countless biographies of once ‘overshadowed’ siblings rising to the top.

It can happen.