Jalynn Goodale, 11th, Osage High School, (Non-:iction

Jalynn Goodale, 11th, Osage High School, (Non-fiction)

"Nothing Compares"

Looking at my sister is like looking in a mirror—like the ones that are found in a fun house. My older sister, Jacey and I have very few things in common: both physically and mentally. For example, we are half-sisters, so we only share half the same DNA, we look nothing alike...once someone even asked if we were cousins.

To begin, Jacey is taller than average, curvy, soft-spoken, and has a strong work ethic. Jacey has always been taller than me, which wasn’t unexpected or shocking because one, she’s older than me, and two both of her parents are of average height. Her body and personality are like a puzzle, they couldn’t fit any better together. She has this statuesque ambience about her: gravitating people towards her like a magnet. Jacey has what I like to call a Womanly Body, she has curves that most girls my age wish they had. Jacey bears what my generation calls an hourglass figure—an average torso/bust with a slim waist that flows into curvy hips. Jacey is almost a mirror image of my mom; with their corkscrew-like curls that are as thick as forest brush, sometimes they even get asked if they are sisters. Take away her curvy hips and curly hair, nothing about my sister is loud, she is soft-spoken. Often keeping most thoughts to herself, only speaking when she can add something useful to the conversation. Her self-control plays into many parts in her life, it has led her to be one of the most driven people I have ever met. She has always pushed herself to be her best and nothing less, even when she lost her two best friends: her horses, Hollywood and Mercedes. This was no doubt one of the hardest things she has ever gone through, she even thought about never riding again—but she did. She has preserved through so much in her life, and never once lost her drive to do the things she loves and get better.

I on the other hand am short, somewhat muscular, loud outspoken, and not as driven. I stand 5ft as a Junior in high school—about the size of a sixth grader; I have always been small. I don’t know why I am as short as I am because both of my parents are of average height, so most would think I would stand about average as well but I do not. My body and personality flow together relatively well, but I am pretty run of the mill when it comes to looks. I don’t really have anything that makes me stick out, everything about me makes me blend in rather easily. My body is pretty small and petite, I have a small torso/bust, slim waist, with little curves. My mom and I do not share her luscious hair, I have pretty standard pin straight hair, the only thing similar about my hair to my mom’s is the color. However, while my physical attributes may not be very loud, I am. I tend to say what is on my mind, only holding my tongue occasionally. Without reservation,

I often contribute in conversations even when it is not needed. I blame this on my need to be heard: which doesn’t make a lot of sense because I don’t really like to be noticed, these two traits are very contradicting. Last of all, I am not nearly as driven as my sister, I lack the motivation to do many things, even the things I love. I find it very difficult to want to go do the things I love, not because I don’t want to get better or because I don’t enjoy it but because I simply would rather lounge around and relax. I haven’t ever lost my drive to do the things I love, but sometimes I will take breaks out of lack of motivation.

Although there are many contrasts between the two of us, equally important is the many similarities. The most obvious and clear-cut is we share a mom, who has given us many of the same traits. Over the years, I have noticed that I write like my sister, but my sister writes like mom: I now know we both write like her. My sister and I both sound like our mom, she laughs like mom and I talk like mom. Occasionally, I will find myself listening to my mom and sister talking and comparing how much they sound and talk alike: making myself feel like the odd one out, only to be told a few days later I sound like my mother by a family friend. Another thing that my mom has genetically passed to my sister and I is our anxiety. I have had anxiety since I was very young, but it has only been diagnosed for two years now. I am not sure how long my sister has been diagnosed with anxiety but I am sure she suffered just as long as I did before being medicated. My mom could tell that we had anxiety but she did not see the point in medicating us before we knew what was going on, which I am thankful for, because it has helped me understand myself more. Despite liking and loving each other now, my sister and I did not always appreciate each other, there used to be a lot of animosity between us like we were at war .

For example, I remember there was one time we sat down to eat dinner, and we were all supposed to go around and say one nice thing about each other, and I looked at my sister and said something along the lines of “I don’t have anything nice to say, so I’m not going to say anything” with a smug smirk on my face. I don’t remember why I felt inclined to say that, but I have a feeling we had been fighting that day. Now surprisingly, she is one of the most important people in my life, she is someone I would go to for life advice and anything else. My sister has become one of my best friends and biggest role models, showing me how to become a strong, smart, spunky, and sympathetic specimen.

Subsequently, our differences are what have brought us closer together, and our similarities have created a bond as strong as two magnets. Occasionally, I still catch myself wondering what it would be like to actually look like my sister: but at the end of the day, I enjoy our differences as it makes us unique and distinct from each other. All in all, Jacey and I sharing more differences than similarities keeps things interesting and

exciting.