When I was six, a hero was someone who wore tights and a cape and saved little old ladies who were seconds from disaster. As I grew a little older though, my views of heroes changed. No longer were the tights and super powers a requirement. Now, the heroes were firefighters and policemen. In school, I learned that bravery and courage were what made heroes, and that physical strength was not always the winner. Although Spiderman, firefighters, and policemen are all heroes, my definition of what a hero truly is has changed. A hero, to me, is someone who stands up for themselves and others. A hero is someone who learns from his or her mistakes. My hero is my sister.

My older sister, Janet, was born May 24, 1989 in Lafayette, Indiana. Four years later, she got a younger sister- me! I don’t remember much from those first couple of years together, but old home videos prove that Janet and I got along at first. As we grew older though, we weren’t as close. Barbies were flushed, hair was pulled, and clothes were stolen. When we were growing up, I never thought of Janet as a hero. She was more like an enemy who always tried to get me in trouble with my parents and stole my candy. We grew up and we became more mature. We started to have a better sister-sister relationship. We stopped fighting over small things and started getting more involved with bigger issues. Flushing Barbies was nothing compared to planning out our futures. The older we got, the closer we were, and the more she became my hero.
Similar to Odysseus, my sister is adventurous, strong, confident, caring, and faithful. Growing up, my sister taught me so many important life lessons. “Always strive for what you want, but know that risk and pain come with the effort”, she told me. Odysseus had the same viewpoint in The Odyssey. He didn’t give up on what he wanted even though he knew it would be hard. I think that is part of what makes a hero. The ability to brave through anything in order to reach your goal is one thing that really makes a person heroic. My sister has braved through many different challenges in her life. When my sister started high school, we both had to deal with all the changes. My sister and I both had gone to the same elementary school and this would be the first time not being in school together. We both had some trouble adjusting to this, but we helped each other get used to being separated. Even when she wasn’t always with me, she was still someone who I looked up to and considered my hero.
I don’t think that heroism has anything to do with how many people you can put behind bars or how many pounds you can bench. When asked what makes a hero, Janet said, “A hero is someone who lives from day to day setting an example to follow through his or her very own life.” My sister has always done just that. She has set an example for me through her life. She has made mistakes and she has never been afraid to admit them. She has taught me to learn from my mistakes and how to be a better person.
My sister told me, “I try to be there for other people and I stick by what I believe, but I don’t think I’ve got everything figured out.” Janet is only 19 years old and, even though that seems so old to me, she is still young. She does not know exactly what is coming for her next. Sometimes I tend to look at her as someone who knows everything, but lately she has been coming to me for help. A true hero is not afraid to ask for help, even if it is from her younger sister. My sister has always been there for me through everything and she knows that I will always be there for her.

This summer my sister went to Australia. Not only was it her first time being out of the country, but it also was the first time we were separated for a long period of time. Her absence was something that really made me think about her more as my hero. When she’s gone, she still has a big affect on the way I live my life. Even though she isn’t there physically, I feel close to her through the things she has taught me and the memories we have shared. When she returned from Australia, I was so glad to have her back. We talked about everything that had happened in those two weeks of her trip. Things were just like before she left. I think that’s something that’s important about a hero also. A hero can go through something that is life changing and still stay true to themselves and what they believe in.
My sister can’t fly and she probably can’t put a force field around you even if she wanted to. My sister doesn’t have to jump headfirst into a smoldering house and she can’t go invisible. Even though her “Spidey Senses tingle” every time I borrow a shirt without asking, she doesn’t have super powers. She has taught me what a true hero is. She has saved me countless times. What it all comes down to, is that she doesn’t have to have a cape in order to be my hero.