Picture your best friend. Not necessarily your current friend or the funniest friend or the most popular friend. No. Picture your best friend. The one who will be there all your life, not just for high school, or junior high, or college. The best friend who will stick to you, no matter if you go to a different high school, live in a different city, or have completely different lives. I think that a best friend can be a great hero and example, especially if that hero is my cousin, Brenna. I may not see her every day at school, or hang out at her house every weekend, but I know she is someone I can look to as a role model and someone who will help me and talk to me whenever I need it.
Brenna may be younger than me, but she is still a great example and friend. She finds beauty in the world and fun in life. She loves to take pictures, especially of nature. She is a fantastic photographer and artist. She has a love for animals that is shown in the big barn next to her family’s small house in a small town. In the barn, cat food and new baby kittens are found; she cares for her cats like no other. Even though she is not allowed to have any cats inside her own house, she has found a way to nurture the cats that she has seen wandering in her neighborhood. She has tamed, helped to heal, and fed her cats. She had learned of the sadness that comes with death, but also of joy, as she constantly has new baby kittens born.
Brenna also has a great sense of humor. She loves practical jokes and she loves to laugh, just like me. She and I like to talk for hours about the funny things that have happened in our lives. Brenna has an amazing talent for listening, whether I tell her funny stories or I’m just talking to her about friends. She never interrupts, like I do sometimes, and she gives good advice on problems that I have. I spent a week at her house last summer and we spent most of our time talking, even late into the night. If I ever want to talk to someone, I know she is the best person to vent to.
Brenna makes people feel like they are worthwhile and she knows just how to build someone up. She thinks of others’ fortes and gives compliments naturally. She supports others with joy and is modest about her strengths. Her listening skills also add to the feeling of importance that she gives to others, especially me. Being listened to makes me feel that I am valuable and significant to someone. Brenna shows this concern and respect for all that she meets.
Along with her many other talents, Brenna is also a great author and photographer. Her writing is superb and I know that she could do a much better job than I, or most other people, could do on an essay, poem, or story. Her writing flows so well and she uses great word choice. Her photography is also flawless. She takes fantastic photos – I love to come over to her house just to be a model for a couple hours. I know that she has a great career ahead of her with any of these talents.
Even though Brenna is just a teenager, she is smart and learns from her mistakes and those of others. She may not know how to solve every math equation, quote every Shakespeare play, or know how to solve every problem in her life, but she is learning how to do so many things that are worth her while. She shows determination to make her life and the world around her better, while being a great friend to me and others.
Although Brenna is a normal student, she is different from most in ways, including her schooling. Brenna is a home-schooled student, learning through lessons on the computer and with the help of her parents. Since her younger sister started school, Brenna’s parents have started home-school. Sometimes Brenna feels that she doesn’t have many friends and she wishes she were back in public school. She can find it frustrating that no one can relate to her troubles, as none of her siblings have ever known public school. However, I get to see Brenna’s example in this trial for her as she tries to communicate her feelings to me and others. I learn to be grateful for my friends as I see Brenna try to find any opportunities to at least make acquaintances. I know that one day she will overcome her hardships of being home-schooled, and I admire all her determination to prevail over them. She inspires me to face my trials with hope and know that one day, I will conquer.
Although Brenna may not be a famous person who has received many awards, or helped to shape a great country, she is a normal, ordinary teenager who is doing her best and being an example to others all around her. She is a hero in my eyes, and I respect and love her very much.