By Addie Kuberski
EMS Press
Traverse City East MS
1st Place Division MS, News Writing
Human Interest Feature
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Lead captures attention, arouses curiosity
- Emphasizes new element, fresh angle
- Colorful, lively presentation; effective form/style
- Reflects adequate research, sound interviewing techniques
- Avoids summaries of published materials
- Effective use of facts/quotes
- Interesting; appeals to the emotions
- Proper diction/grammar
Six years ago my life completely changed. That was when we adopted my now-eight-year-old brother, Nick. In an orphanage since he was a few months old, he barely had enough food. From the day we brought him home at age two, he consumed as much food as he could. Food wasn’t the only problem at the orphanage. There were three guardians to watch more than 50 kids. Because he received little attention and was surrounded by lots of noise, Nick learned to tune everything out. Today, that still affects him. It’s like he can’t hear a word my parents say. At school, Nick works with adult staff to help him with his behavior. I can hardly remember because I was only six at the time, but I was really excited to have a new little brother. It was as much a life-changing experience for me as it was for him. A new little person in my life getting loads of attention. I always wanted to play with him but my parents would caution, “Be careful. He’s as fragile as a sponge.” That said, I continued to horse around with him. I loved being an older sister, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Our good family friends would quite frequently come over for dinner and I always tried to sit by Nick but it always ended in a disaster because everyone else wanted to sit next to him too. Adoption is a very big thing. Start to finish, it took us two trips to Ethiopia in Africa and two years in total to adopt Nick. The first trip was to visit and the other to adopt him. My parents were able to specify what gender they wanted and give an age range. That was it. It was a long, exciting, and, after everything, an amazing experience. But there were some downsides. As a six-year-old, it was not the easiest thing for me. My parents were gone for two weeks and they missed Christmas. Every couple of days my sister and I would have someone new watching over us. Sometimes it was my grandparents and other times I had a babysitter. I remember it like it was yesterday. My sister and I were packing our lunches, and my babysitter asked us if we wanted ice cream or cake in our lunch, and, of course, as little kids, that was the best thing. Today, Nick continues to be as crazy as a kid could get. We always wrestle around in the living room and annoy each other. Just yesterday in the car we continued to argue because he wouldn’t stop talking. I hear stories from my parents about when they take him in public and he is his normal self — talking to strangers, making them laugh. In the end, he is the typical little brother — annoying and crazy. And very loved.