There was a time when we were just sisters. Nothing more. Not that being just sisters is a negative thing. It’s a wonderful thing, to have a sister. Now, however, we are much more than just sisters. We are now soulmates, bestfriends. She is my everything, she’s taught me so much and what’s odd is that she’s my younger sister.  Typically you hear about the older sister teaching the younger sister lessons about life but we’re not the typical sister duo. She’s the reason I do what I do, she’s the reason I work hard in school and follow my passions. It wasn’t until that day, though, did I realize just how important she was to me. It was the day my family fell into pieces. The day I felt I could not rely on my parents for help or comfort.  That day we were told of my parents’ divorce, it was not entirely a surprise. But neither one of us was prepared for what effect it would really have.  Initially, everything felt as if it was falling downhill faster and faster. Nothing seemed to be going right for either one of us but what we didn’t notice was that we started spending much more time together. And of all the time we were spending with each other we never seemed to fight. Before the divorce we fought a lot, like all sisters do. We are three years apart, so I always had the typical older sister attitude toward her but she was not interested in taking any of my older sister routines. She fought back the majority of the time, and we’re both very stubborn people so that amplified our arguments as well.  None of those things have changed, we’re both still stubborn, she still stands her ground the thing that changed is we simply stopped fighting. We both realized after the divorce that we still had our parents but now it didn’t feel the same. My family was now divided into two, and I blamed them for that. It almost felt like they had betrayed us but what really happened was the relationship I had with Victoria grew. We no longer fought and for a while I didn’t even realize we had stopped fighting. I didn’t realize the effect she was having on my life. Honestly, I just recently realized how important she is to me and how much she has influenced me as a person. When I started looking at colleges at first I was all for going out of Austin. I wanted to go away to be able to say I was adventurous and was able to take that risk. But while I was looking at schools I realized that I didn’t want to go away. And I first I didn’t know why; I just decided not to go and then it hit me. I didn’t want to leave my sister. I know she will be okay and will be able to get by without me for a little while because she is incredibly strong and she knows how to stand up for herself. But I wasn’t sure I could do without her. Everything I have done has been for her, to make sure she is has what she needs to do what she wants and get where she wants to get. I know she can and by her being as strong as she is I know I can be strong too and I can go to college despite the fact I am terrified. She’s the reason I am writing this essay right now.  She’s the reason I have worked as hard as I have to get where I am because I want her to work hard and try to accomplish her goals as well.  She has made me realize that I need to go and experience the world on my own and by staying in state it is a small step for my plans for the future. I plan on eventually moving away and college is the first step for me. I could not be this brave without the help Victoria has unknowingly given me.