Living up to Older Siblings

Living+up+to+Older+Siblings

Hanna Roshak, Staff Writer

It is difficult to avoid comparisons when it comes to family members attending the same school.  But for the Gillespie brothers, differences in their high school resumes and academic transcripts fail to fuel a case of sibling rivalry.

Ben Gillespie, for the most part, likes to fly under the radar screen.  By no means is he a wallflower as evidenced by his varsity tennis team placement and his abundant talent in video production. It’s just that he has the burden of following his brother’s footsteps.

His older brother, Jonathan, in contrast was a varsity basketball player, tennis player, volleyball player, and student body president, who left behind a reputation at RVHS of being ambitious, driven and dedicated.

“It is difficult to follow in my brothers footsteps because he was so academically motivated” Junior Benjamin Gillespie says in regard to his older brother Jonathan, “we have different ambitions in life”.

Gillespie’s older brother graduated from Ralston Valley High School last May. Now at Duke University, Ben, undergoes nothing but high expectations.

When both Gillespie brothers walked the halls together in previous years, expectations were especially high, not only from teachers, but also from parents and peers.

“Teachers often compared me to my brother and assumed me to be a model student” said junior Ben Gillespie, “my friends thought it was funny how different we are”.

When asked about his home life, Ben explains “My parents believe that I have the potential to be as academically successful as my brother, but we both have very different definitions of success”.

“My motivation in high school has never been as high as my brother and I often get compared to him by my parents” Ben explains, “but Jon understands that not everyone defines success as receiving good grades and academic achievements.”

Although people too often compared Ben to his older brother, it was more often than not in a “positive connotation, which is neat”.

Despite the difference in personalities and ambitions between the two brothers, Ben and Jonathan’s relationship could be described as close-knit and friendly.

“My brother and I have a great relationship, always easy going and never tensious,” Ben explains, “I admire Jon’s hard work and drive, I am proud of his accomplishments”.

For the Gillespie brothers, there is no benefit to one-upmanship. Their mutual admiration for each other and their distinct accomplishments will cease all aspects of comparison.