Everyone has a hero. Everyone has that someone they look up to, be it superhero like batman or spider man or even super man, every one has that special some one. My hero is not a fictional hero, she is no other than my own older sister. I call her Ate (At-eh), which means older sister in Filipino.

Ever since I was younger, she’s always been the person I trust, I lean on to, and I admire. She showed me how to be strong by never showing any fear on her face. She showed me the importance of caring for someone you love. She taught me that the key to success is determination. She opened my eyes that in growing up comes more responsibilities. Throughout childhood to now, I’ve been progressively applying what Ate had been teaching me to myself, so I’ll be successful in High School and in college and ultimately in life. All she had showed me are significant attributes that I admire the most of her.

Since we were younger, all the hardships we went through from our parents’ divorce, should have left both my sister and I broken. However, the hero that she is, she was strong enough to keep both of us together. She never showed fear to me. She always had that look on her face like nothing can bring her down. Because of the strength that she showed me, I became strong as well. I reflected my own actions I saw from her to myself and showed the same to my little brother. When she left for college, she barely showed how hard it was to leave me. She wanted me to be strong. I knew I needed to be strong for my little brother, so like me, he’ll learn to be strong for himself too.

Having a broken home at young age, my sister played as my father and mother. She always care for me and tended to my needs. I never remembered a time when I felt unfortunate not to have a mom and a dad beside me. I had my sister, and she filled all that emptiness unknowingly. Like my sister, I have a caring personality. I tend to be drawn to someone who needed my care. I like to help out anyone who needed me. I’ve always seen that from my sister. She goes out of her way to help someone.

Determination is a key to success. That’s what I’ve heard a lot from my Ate. “You can achieve anything you set your mind to”. Ate always repeat that phrase to me when she feels that I am loosing grip on following my goal. When she sets a goal, she goes for it. She tackles all the obstacles to get to her goal. She never let anything hold her back. For instance, when she was in High School, she balanced sports, clubs, and maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout because she was determined to get into the colleges she applied. To set goals, she taught me to be organized and prioritize and be determined not to settle for “good enough”.

Because I leaned on to her for a very long time, and because I looked at her for comfort, my Ate became responsible. As an older sister, she took all the responsibility for me. She took the blames that should have been for me. She protected me from anything that could potentially harm me. But now that she moved away for college, I have to be responsible now for my own because I have no one but myself to lean on to. She’s been like my twin, but because she needed to move on with her life and follow her dreams, I had to go on with mine. I know she’ll always be there through a press of a button. She always remind me to be responsible because I am growing up. I am applying this trait to myself more, so my little brother will learn to be responsible too.

These attributes that I learned from my Ate are significant factors in my life. She is and always will be my inspiration. When I feel lost and afraid, I always think back about how hard my sister had it but no matter what, she always pulled through. Life will give a lot of difficulties, it will have its up and downs, but when you have a hero in mind, you know for sure you can always make it through. Everyone uses their hero to push them through difficult times in life. With it comes a life with happiness and ease. Even though I won’t be with my Ate for the rest of my life, I know in heart and in spirit that her influence in me made a great impact.

Everyone has a hero. Everyone has that someone they look up to. It be a superhero like batman or spider man or even super man, every one has that special some one. My hero is not a fictional hero, she is no other than my own older sister. I call her Ate (At-eh), which means older sister in Filipino.

This essay was submitted Ma’an Luzano for the December 2010 – HowToSaveMoney.com Scholarship. See and vote on your favorite essays here. From Ma’an: “I would use the money to help me out for college. I plan on going to San Diego State University. It will cost me a lot of money and I need the money because I don’t want to depend of my parents for it. I want to show them that I can be independent and find a way to pay to further my education. “