My family always has been my priority and the motivation for me to believe in myself. Along with my decisions being supported, my ideas were always valuable to my parents; which taught me how to take care of my little brother. Growing up, having a younger sibling helped me improve myself in many ways. My brother is not only the most important person in my life but also the reason behind my desire to study psychology.

   When my brother was in kindergarten, my parents noticed some concerning behaviors of him. He would zone out in the middle of a conversation and not hear us, or he would not understand the concept of lines, or he would have problems with group games because he couldn’t understand the commands and instructions. They didn’t think much of it since he was still a kid. However, just after he started first grade, the little problems became serious issues. I always thought he was gifted and special, which is practically true. Since we had a particular bond and shared everything with each other; when my parents said it was necessary for him to see a psychologist, I was the one he explained his concerns to. As I was listening to his theories about letters dancing on paper and numbers actually being singers, all I could think of was whether he was going to be bullied or not. Being bullied at that time, I did not want to imagine him under peer pressure. That was the time I realized unconditional love existed and that my little brother, Salih, was the biggest target of that lovely weapon.

   After several psychologists ran a considerable number of tests on Salih for weeks, the results were out and not surprising: dyslexia. Being exposed to the fact that he struggles to learn and acts as if he is two years younger than his actual age; I was so shocked and mad that I started shouting about him not having problems in his brain and being just as normal as the other kids. I didn’t want to live in a cruel world in which my pure-hearted little brother was perceived as moronic. That day, I promised myself that I would help him in every condition.

   Unfortunately, my thoughts about people judging Salih turned out to be right. People would think he was less smart than the others, while he actually had a higher IQ level than most of them. My parents had to work late when we were younger, which made me in charge. When I realized he couldn’t focus on a lesson for more than 10 minutes, I thought that turning lessons into games would help. It did and Salih loved them!

   As I observed and learned, I was slowly starting to realize that I wanted to help kids that were like my little brother. They do not deserve to be degraded or underestimated by society; if anything, they deserve to be treated specially. Hence, being the one to treat them distinctively was my dream since fifth grade. And that day was the day I made another promise: “I will help every person, under every condition, no matter who they are.”

   I believe that my brother having a learning disorder that makes it hard for him to learn, ironically, taught me that there are so many aspects to life. Even though the experience has been tough on me and my family, it has strengthened our bond and taught us a lot. Every step and milestone along this way has been hard, rough, and complicated. Despite all the challenges, it has been the greatest reason for me to find myself. I learned everyone should feel welcome anywhere in life. Being aware of my brother’s struggles and going through them with him; I know acceptance and support are what a person wants.

   And here I am, shaped in each step of this journey. Leaving my judgmental perspectives behind. Completely accepting people for who they are. Knowing even more deeply that every individual is a whole different story and you just can't deny their way of writing. And most importantly: committed to keeping my promise.