Don't get me wrong, my brother and I have always been close. Like super glue. He was my best friend growing up and he still is. I always knew that I could rely on him for everything. When I went away to college, I had to leave him behind at home as a high school senior. Now we are both in colleges away from home and talk every single day. These are 10 ways that I got closer to my brother by going to different colleges.

1. We always have things to talk about that the other person doesn't already know.

When I was in college, I called my brother with things that were going on that he didn't know about because he was at home and I wasn't. When he would tell me things that were happening in our old high school, it was rare for him to tell me something that I didn't know because I still had friends that went there. Now that we are both away from home and living our own lives, whenever something interesting happens, it's always news to the other person.

2. We realized that we won't always be close to each other our whole lives.

Not close as in being best friends. I mean distance wise. Growing up we were living in the same house. When our parents got divorced, he chose to live with our dad and I chose to live with our mom. Granted, that wasn't living together, but we were less than a mile apart. I saw him every day at school and often on the weekends. Now that we are in different states for school, West Virginia for me and the other side of Pennsylvania for him, we are no longer close. If I want to see him, I have to plan out my day and drive 3 1/2 hours one way. It made me realize that we won't always be living in a 10 mile radius from each other. When we get older and are living out our adult lives, we don't know where they will take us or what part of the world we will live in. We both love traveling. There is no guarantee that we will even be in the same Country.

3. We had to move out without saying goodbye.

I wasn't there when my brother packed up his things to go to college. I was taking part in a study abroad trip to Italy. Missing this huge step in his life was devastating for me. He graduated from high school in early June and we expected a whole summer together before we have to go our separate ways. But, when I was given the opportunity to go to Trento, Italy, I jumped on it - with support from my brother of course! The day after he graduated, I was put on a plane and taken 6000 miles from my best friend. Our perfect summer went out the window. When I returned from Italy, he was already at school completing his intro summer session at Penn State, main campus. Suddenly, it hit me that we were no longer together and there was nothing I could do but grin and bare it. I missed his first huge step into the adult world. Within 2 weeks of my return, I had to pack up my room and move into my new apartment. My brother still hadn't come home. We had to move out without saying goodbye to each other and it was heart-wrenching.

4. We experienced each others college relationships.

Nothing tells you that your sibling cares about you then when they tell you that your significant other sucks. Thankfully, this only happened to me in high school when I wasn't even serious about my relationships. This situation never happened to my brother. When I was away at college, my brother started dating a girl back home. Needless to say, I am protective of my brother. Maybe a little too much sometimes, but come on! I'm his sister! Of course, I believe that no one is good enough for my brother. But, fortunately, this girl came close. She was everything that my brother wanted and then some. They dated going into college as well, even though she is in Virginia and he is in Pennsylvania. I came home for spring break with a boyfriend. He lived kinda far from home, so my brother didn't get to meet him until later on in our relationship. When they finally met, my brother made a point of telling me how much he liked him. We both found the right people at similar times. There is no better feeling then your siblings approval of your significant other.

5. Watching each other grow up was tough.

I can only speak for myself, but watching him turn into a young man is saddening. Although he is only a year younger than me, it has never felt that way. I will forever see him as my baby brother with the big blue eyes that were full of dreams. I miss the days when he thought I was the coolest person in the world and he would play dolls with me just because he knew I wanted him too. I miss the days where he would look up to me, literally and figuratively, and think that I was the best girl in the world. Now I am just sister and there are other girls that he is interesting in. Aside from missing the child, I am so proud of the man that he is becoming. With him at a different college, I feel as though I am missing an important time in his life.

6. We both missed mom and dad.

This was a big deal for me during my freshman year of college. I missed home so much and I felt as though I was constantly crying and on the phone with my mom. I am very close to both of my parents and leaving home was one of the hardest things I have had to do. I felt as though none of my friends at school felt the same way that I did. My brother is just as close with our parents as I am. Leaving home was equally as hard for him. It was easier for us to reach out to each other when we were getting homesick because we knew the other person would understand. It's one thing to have a close bond with your parents, but another thing to have an even closer bond with your sibling.

7. We can call each other whenever we felt like it.

I don't have to shoot him a text beforehand asking if I can call, although on occasion we do just that. I know that I can call my brother whenever I need to and he will usually drop everything and answer. So long as he isn't in class. We talk at least once a week on the phone, sometimes more, and we text every single day. I will never get tired of seeing my brothers name come up on my phone knowing that, even though we are separated by distance, he still wants to talk to me as much as he can.

8. Our climbing snapchat streak.

My brother is the only person that I have managed to maintain a snapchat streak with. Not even my boyfriend is in competition with this. I love sending him pictures every day of what I am doing and the food that I'm eating (since I have my own apartment, I get to cook, too bad he has to live in a dorm and eat cafeteria food!). He does the same with me. This is the only way, at school, that we get to actually see what the other person is doing.

9. We both realize how much we relied on each other.

When all I wanted to do was sit on the couch with my brother and eat, I had to accept the fact that he was 182 miles away from me. I couldn't text him and ask to get food with me or go to the mall. I would ask him for help whenever I had any sort of problem. When we had nothing to do, we always had each other. If we wanted to go out to eat, but no one was around, we would go with each other. He's my number one supporter and I do the same for him.

10. The feeling I get when I know that I am about to see my baby brother.

Even if it's only going to be a few days, I still hate being away from him. I get so excited when I know that we're about to be reunited. We got lucky with our college breaks and they line up so we get to see each other for every break. When we see each other, we have so much to talk about. I get excited when I know that I'm about to be with him. It's one thing to be close with your brother but it's another thing to have your brother be your best friend.