An Elyria man is trying to pull off what he calls the biggest big-brother-helps-little-sister moment of his life by trying to win his 17-year-old sibling $25,000 in college money.

CHUCK HUMEL/CHRONICLE

Ryan Loper, 21, left, made a film of his sister Brittany, right, and entered it into Upromise Tuition Tales video contest. First-place prize is $25,000 — the yearly cost for Cedarville University, where Brittany would like to attend to study pre-law. A frame from Ryan’s video is on a monitor in the background.

Ryan Loper, 21, said he has always taken care of his sister, Brittany Loper of Avon.

He was the first to plant a kiss on her forehead the day she was born, taught her how to ride a bike and educated her for years through his homework. So when he found out about the Upromise Tuition Tales contest, he immediately put together a 30-second video submission in hopes of helping Brittany win enough money to attend Cedarville University in the fall.

At $25,000 a year, the tuition is threatening to keep Brittany from going to the school of her choice.

But Ryan didn’t tell her his plan for fear of failure. That was until Tuesday, when he learned his video had been selected out of a field of hundreds as one of the top 10 finalists.

Now, there is just one last hurdle keeping Brittany from the loot: Ryan’s video has to beat out nine other finalists in the online voting.

“I just want her to be able to go to the school of her dreams,” said Ryan, who works part-time as a videographer. “She is smart, gets good grades — way better than I ever did — and really deserves to have this happen for her.”

Brittany, who learned of the video this week, said she had no idea her brother was that determined to get her to Cedarville, she said. After all, he was the one who told her to accept the full ride to Lorain County Community College or look for a less expensive college.

But Brittany, who intends to major in pre-law, is enamored with Cedarville. She said it’s a Christian college that’s close to home, has her major and an uncle who is an alumnus has vouched that it’s a good school, all of which elevated it to the top of her list.

“We have always been close, and Ryan has always taken care of me,” Brittany said. “To win that $25,000 would be such a huge burden off me. It would make what seems like an impossible thing that much more attainable.”

However, if there is one person who is not surprised by Ryan’s secret plan to get his sister to college, it’s their mother, Sue Loper.

Vote for Brittany Check out Ryan Loper’s video submission at www.upromise.com/tuitiontales.

She was Ryan’s partner to develop the video content without Brittany finding out. Together they put together a video featuring a montage of photos and awards chronicling Brittany’s academic career. Ryan served as the voiceover, telling people how hard-working, motivated and deserving his sister is to go to college.

“For as long as I can remember, it’s been Brittany loves her brother, and Ryan takes care of his sister,” Sue said. “When I heard he wanted to enter that contest and the prize was $25,000 — exactly what Brittany needs for her first year — I knew that maybe God is trying to tell this family that he will take care of everything.”

Now, the only thing the family needs is votes — and lots of them.

The winner will basically be chosen through an online popularity contest that runs until April 16. The top finalists were chosen by a panel of Upromise judges who looked for the most creative way entrants chose to tell their tuition tale — why they or someone they knew deserved the money.

“Every day, Ryan comes to me and says ‘What have you done today to get people to vote for you?’ ” Brittany said. “We’re telling everyone we know to help send me to Cedarville.”

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com. 

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