Fisherman
Chris is a twenty four year old high school social studies teacher at Manhasset High School. He is my older brother and he is shorter than me, but he has bigger attitude and heart than anyone you have ever seen. Being very competitive and athletic, he has aggressively played soccer, baseball, basketball, and golf. As a player on Hamilton College’s Baseball team he set a college record demonstrating his dedication for the sport. You can see his loud and controlling side as a result of his decision to become president of his college fraternity and his intelligent side, graduating from Hamilton College and Columbia’s Teachers College. Because of this unusual mix, some of his actions, like his tattoo or his decision to become a teacher, may be considered as stupid by others. However, for many of them, he does have a logical reason. For example, he got his tattoo to show his love for the family, but his decision to become a teacher has a stronger reason.
While my family was having a typical conversation about my brother’s future career, my brother taught me a very important lesson. My grandpa was always pushy and asking the question “Why don’t you be a doctor or a lawyer like your father?”, and at first my brother gave in. Consequently he interned at a local law office and realized he hated it and that he could not work in an office like that. Even after knowing this, my grandpa still insisted that my brother got a “good job”, or one with a high salary. Chris wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and so he argued his point that he wanted to have a passion for what he did just like my grandma, an artist, had for painting. Regardless of the salary, he desired to enjoy going to his job every morning and not being miserable. Then he made the right decision himself and went on to become a teacher. He loves it, while the students love him too and now he had proven a point to everyone, including me. Chris stayed honest with himself and made his point without backing down, as usual, which makes him a positive role model.
Another occasion on which my brother had influenced me involved sports. My brother and I both played soccer for the same coach. One day our coach jokingly told Chris that I was like a “fisherman” on the soccer field, meaning that I stood around, just watching, without moving around or being active in the game. My brother jumped on this opportunity to tease me about it because he is the total opposite of a fisherman so he had nothing to worry about. With this, he would make fun of me, but not in a way to put me down. At first it had put me down, making me feel ashamed of myself, but in the long run it was different. This criticism encouraged me to think of the fact that my brother was never told he wasn’t working hard enough so why should I. Chris was always giving one hundred percent of his effort and nothing less. Since I was always looking up to my brother, the teasing pushed me to do better and I made sure that I was always working as hard as he did.
Before experiencing both of these moments with Chris, I was like a fisherman in many aspects of life, not just soccer. I was extremely quiet, shy, and I was often very scared to speak my mind or give my opinion. I was a passive type of person who would rarely argue with anyone like the way my brother had with my grandpa. Also, on the soccer field, I was very cautious and scared of messing up. Getting involved in the action could lead to me messing up, so I just stood around like a fisherman. This was not good if I wanted to get better at soccer.
Living my whole life with my brother and especially these two situations has showed me not to be a fisherman in life. We were total opposites in life and on the soccer field. Chris is a very aggressive person, and some of his aggressiveness rubbed off on me making me a little less passive. I have always looked up to all that my brother does and tried to be like him because he is my role model. Now I am, no longer afraid to argue my point of view. I am not as quiet as I used to be and I try to be more talkative. On the soccer field Chris was always fouling people and playing with a lot of heart, while I used to be the exact opposite. Over time of admiring him, I have gained some of his qualities and started playing more and more like him and less and less like my old fisherman self. Now I have become more competitive in soccer then he is. I also continue to deviate from my extreme passiveness. You can say goodbye to my old, fisherman days.
While my family was having a typical conversation about my brother’s future career, my brother taught me a very important lesson. My grandpa was always pushy and asking the question “Why don’t you be a doctor or a lawyer like your father?”, and at first my brother gave in. Consequently he interned at a local law office and realized he hated it and that he could not work in an office like that. Even after knowing this, my grandpa still insisted that my brother got a “good job”, or one with a high salary. Chris wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and so he argued his point that he wanted to have a passion for what he did just like my grandma, an artist, had for painting. Regardless of the salary, he desired to enjoy going to his job every morning and not being miserable. Then he made the right decision himself and went on to become a teacher. He loves it, while the students love him too and now he had proven a point to everyone, including me. Chris stayed honest with himself and made his point without backing down, as usual, which makes him a positive role model.
Another occasion on which my brother had influenced me involved sports. My brother and I both played soccer for the same coach. One day our coach jokingly told Chris that I was like a “fisherman” on the soccer field, meaning that I stood around, just watching, without moving around or being active in the game. My brother jumped on this opportunity to tease me about it because he is the total opposite of a fisherman so he had nothing to worry about. With this, he would make fun of me, but not in a way to put me down. At first it had put me down, making me feel ashamed of myself, but in the long run it was different. This criticism encouraged me to think of the fact that my brother was never told he wasn’t working hard enough so why should I. Chris was always giving one hundred percent of his effort and nothing less. Since I was always looking up to my brother, the teasing pushed me to do better and I made sure that I was always working as hard as he did.
Before experiencing both of these moments with Chris, I was like a fisherman in many aspects of life, not just soccer. I was extremely quiet, shy, and I was often very scared to speak my mind or give my opinion. I was a passive type of person who would rarely argue with anyone like the way my brother had with my grandpa. Also, on the soccer field, I was very cautious and scared of messing up. Getting involved in the action could lead to me messing up, so I just stood around like a fisherman. This was not good if I wanted to get better at soccer.
Living my whole life with my brother and especially these two situations has showed me not to be a fisherman in life. We were total opposites in life and on the soccer field. Chris is a very aggressive person, and some of his aggressiveness rubbed off on me making me a little less passive. I have always looked up to all that my brother does and tried to be like him because he is my role model. Now I am, no longer afraid to argue my point of view. I am not as quiet as I used to be and I try to be more talkative. On the soccer field Chris was always fouling people and playing with a lot of heart, while I used to be the exact opposite. Over time of admiring him, I have gained some of his qualities and started playing more and more like him and less and less like my old fisherman self. Now I have become more competitive in soccer then he is. I also continue to deviate from my extreme passiveness. You can say goodbye to my old, fisherman days.
