Growing up the oldest isn't the easiest, but it’s not all bad. I'm the oldest out of six children. My parents are divorced, and unfortunately, I do not get to see all of my brothers and sisters all the times.

Being an older sibling means that you have to set a good example for the others. It means that everything I do and say is scrutinized and sometimes repeated. This makes me want to be the best version of myself because I want my siblings to be the best versions of themselves. Even though this comes with a lot of pressure, I wouldn't exchange it for anything. Knowing I helped my siblings get to where they are now, makes me ecstatic.

Being the first child came with a lot of drawbacks. For one, my parents were a lot more strict with me than they were with my other siblings. Over the years, I watched my siblings grow up, and I watched my parents become less and less strict. Of course that frustrated me. Who wants their parents to be strict with them, but less strict with your siblings. Why were they allowed to do things you weren’t? At the time, when I was still at home, this bothered me. Now that I’m away at college, it doesn’t bother me so much. It doesn't matter to me because I am living on my own.

As the oldest, I also get to experience things before everyone else. I started high school without anyone to help me out, without an older sibling there to help show me the ropes. High school was hard, it’s such a tough experience, especially to go alone. There are a lot of difficult things that you go through in your life time. There are a lot of times that I wish I had an older sibling that was there for all the difficult times. It would have been easier to get through puberty, high school, people bullying me if I had had an older sibling. Since obviously this is not the case, I think I did pretty well on my own.

I get to watch my brothers and sisters accomplish things that I never would have imagined. That’s what it means to be the older sibling. Being the oldest sibling is a blessing. It shows that your siblings can be your best friend, but they are also my siblings. This is the best thing ever because I know that I can help them with anything they need, but I can also be the friend that they need as well.

Although having an older sibling sounds like it would be great, I am so proud that I am the oldest sibling. I couldn’t be any more proud to be the oldest sibling of my brothers and sisters. It makes me proud to know that I’ve had some hand in helping them become the people they are today and that I will continue to help them grow and learn.