I’m often asked who my hero is, and it’s pretty obvious. Taking care of me when I was little, and still finding time to play basketball, draw, work part-time, and go to school full time sounds very similar to a superwoman, doesn’t it? Well I guess you could call my sister that, because if that’s not a hero, then I don’t know what or should I say who, is!

Living a busy life, my mom often left my sister in charge to watch over my brothers and me. Her being only 3 ½ years older than me made it so much more commendable that she could take on such a big responsibility. To this day, she still serves as a support system, mentor, and in some cases as she refers to herself, a “taxi service”. Through it all, she knows we care about her and are glad to have her in our lives.

At the age of 3, she fell in love with basketball. It seemed that every waking moment of hers was spent outside, basketball in hand. By age 9, she was on an organized team, which went on to be undefeated that year. C-team, freshman year, was the way she started off her high school basketball career. With a lot of hard work and determination, she had made it on to Varsity the next year. She didn’t get much playing time as a rookie on Varsity, but she was still a good team supporter on and off the court. They did make it to the State Tournament that year, but unfortunately did not place. However, for the next two years, she got much playing time as one of the starting point guards for the Lady Falcons. She had a little set back when she tore her ACL Valentine’s Day of this year. A surgery was required if she ever wanted to play again. Now at Green River Community College, she will have to only watch her teammates on the court, and since she can’t play, she will be helping out at her alma mater, Kentlake High school.

Currently attending Green River Community College, Brittany is studying art in hopes of transferring to a university in the near future to further continue her education. Everyone knows that waking up early on a regular basis is hard to do, but that doesn’t stop Brittany from doing what she has to do to earn her degree. Not to mention that it’s pretty much impossible to find parking with so many students arriving the same time as her. Face buried in books, notes, and papers night after night isn’t a very comforting feeling, but in the end, she knows its all well worth it.


Artistic abilities are something that many people may only dream of possessing, but to Brittany, they were a God given talent. I’m not too sure is she really realizes that, but there are definitely people inspired by her work. From caricatures to portraits, you can always find her drawing. She finds joy in buying new mechanical pencils, colored pencils, pens, crayons, drawing pads, and erasers. I never really understood that. I guess it must be an artist thing.

Now there aren’t many people who actually enjoy working, and my sister is no exception. Working as a courtesy clerk at the local Safeway, Brittany acquires all her hard earned money. Pushing carts in the snow, bagging grumpy senile people’s groceries, emptying garbage cans, cleaning bathrooms and spills in isles, and dealing with grumpy managers are her main reasons for her strong dislike of employment at Safeway. She only has time to work part-time, but she still finds it in herself to put up with it for her short shift. She always comes home complaining about her day, but as soon as she gets her check, she’s all good.

If you ever stop to think about the qualities of a hero, also keep in mind that they may differ from someone else’s ideal qualities. My hero just happens to be athletic, artistic, hard working, smart, and responsible. My hero resembles a superwoman. My hero is my sister. Who’s your hero?