My older sister Katrin never liked the fact that I did everything she did. She played soccer; I wanted to do it, too. She joined the cross country team in middle school; I wanted to start running, too. She joined the newspaper staff in high school; I wanted to write for it, too. Poor Katrin always had two years of something being “her own,” and then I would join in because she looked like she was having so much fun! Then she came to Baylor, and I said there was no way I would ever leave the comfort and warm weather of California.
Well, that was obviously a lie.
We’ve both enjoyed being on the same campus for two years. Having my sister here has made a huge difference in not only my adjustment to college freshman year, but my entire Baylor experience. There has always been someone to come support me at my events around campus, always someone only a few blocks away who loves me unconditionally. She even came to watch the final junior design competition and cheer on Team Pride Rock! The love and support have gone both ways. When she had the flu, I’m the one who bought her tissues and orange juice and took her temperature. During her events with the Chamber of Commerce (especially Dia del Oso and Homecoming), I always brought her plenty of caffeine to keep her going throughout the day. My freshman year, she somehow convinced me to run the Bearathon with her. We’ve roadtripped up to Kansas for Thanksgiving three times (8 hours each way) and still wanted to talk to each other afterwards. I’ve given her nerdy engineering shirts, she has hooked me up with Dia apparel for five years in a row. When her washer and dryer broke off campus last year, I snuck her laundry into my residence hall and did it for her. When one of us is miserably stuck studying late, the other will bring Starbucks and a cookie to help perk along. In just a couple weeks, we’ll be driving down from our hometown of Saratoga, CA, to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego to cheer our Bears on. Hurray for more 8 hour road trips!
Tomorrow, my sister is graduating. She completed her Exercise Physiology major and has applied to a variety of Physical Therapy schools, just waiting to hear back from where she’ll be headed next fall! I am so proud of her, so proud of what she has accomplished here at Baylor, and so proud of what she’ll do in the future. It has been such a blessing sharing Baylor with Katrin, and I will really miss her next semester. After all, who’s going to bring me free coffee now? 🙂 Love you Katrin!