My Family Voted My Oxford Spot Away

During the Christmas holidays, my parents began our family meeting with the yearly "family support vote." Our family's only recommendation letter for Oxford's architecture program lay on the table. My name had originally been on it. "I vote for Camilla." My older brother, Evan Prescott, was the first to raise his hand. "She just went through a breakup. She needs to get away to Europe for a while." "I vote for Camilla too." My mother kept filing her nails as she talked. "Selena can go to community college. Camilla's grades are bad. Without a recommendation letter, she won't get in anywhere." My father didn't hesitate. He slid the recommendation letter across the table to Camilla. "Three votes to one, Selena. It's settled." My younger sister, Camilla Prescott, picked up the letter and smiled sweetly. "Thanks, Selena. You've always been the independent one. I knew you wouldn't hold this against me." I looked at that letter. To earn it, I'd stayed up late for six straight months and drawn more than 300 designs. To them, all my hard work was just a way to get my sister's foot in the door. I stood up. I didn't cry, and I didn't demand an explanation. "Fine. If that's how you voted, give it to her." I turned, walked back to my room, and pulled out the suitcase I'd packed a long time ago. What they didn't know was that my own designs had already earned me an offer of direct admission to Harvard. That letter felt like a handout. I wanted nothing to do with it.