Reka (’21) and Gabi (’23) Gotz

Representing your family name well becomes a burden of a task as an older sibling, providing many boundaries with minimal room for error, but being on the wrong side of the deal won’t be the light of your day. Unfortunately, as a younger sibling we do often have to live in the dust, and I think most of you can agree with me on that. But being in the shadows isn’t always a bad thing! There are plenty of ways to take advantage of this, and as we grow older, our siblings will too. So make the most of it, and enjoy your time here in the back of the room.

Generally, there is a lot of negativity tied to being the younger sibling, relating to things like always having high expectations set on you, being identified as a sibling of someone else, and getting a hand-me-down-esque vibe of attention, and most of these things do come out to be true. But when there’s a conflict, there’s usually a way to flip it into your own hands. For example, since the attention we normally get is scarce and brief, I like to think that the lack of attention allows you to really accent on your own personality and bring a surprise or twist to a conversation when you get your fifteen minutes of fame. Also, depending on your sibling, being related to one can really bring you out of the dumps sometimes. Teachers will pull a fun little story out of nowhere, relatives will swap the dinner table topic over to you, and your sibling’s actions will seep into others’ perspectives of you.

I hope that some of you are really able to do the same, and try and grasp the bright side of life, and I hope that I was able to give some of you a spark of hope. But in every hole you dig into, situation you encounter, and problem you face, always remember: to be the best you.