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Finding Belonging In A Big Family

Where do you fit in your big family?

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Finding Belonging In A Big Family
Catrina Espinosa

Being the youngest of four kids is interesting, to say the least. Although the age gap between me and my oldest sibling is 13 years we are still as close as ever. Of course fighting occurs amongst all of us, what family doesn't have it, but still, I would never trade them or their impact on my life for anything.

Being in such a big family was hard for me because I didn't truly know where I fit, until recently. Coming up each of us had our own places my sister the creative one, my oldest brother the quiet MacGyver, my other brother the jokester, and then there was me.

Looking into the family and even hearing other people talk about us I always knew how everyone else was seen, just not me. It was so hard never feeling like I had a place like all the others. I thought of myself constantly as the odd one out, as the child who didn't know herself or have her niche in the family. But this was just because I don't think I truly knew myself until I got to college.

After spending my first real year away from all of my family I had to learn a lot of things. One of them being how to be independent and this I feel is what honestly is the foundation for shaping you, and how you deal with life away from the security of your home. Sure my parents were a mere 3 hours but I was tired of constantly relying on them.

Coming home for break I realized that I wanted to be so much more than that label, that one thing that defined me. I started noticing how my artsy sister was kinda funny or how the comedian was actually super smart. We were all so much more than that and even though growing up that's how people categorized each of us (probably to keep up with us), it wasn't all we were.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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