Growing up in a large or small family has always been known to shape the kind of person that you are. People constantly get asked if they’re “the middle child” or if they have any siblings at all. This has been going on since the dawn of time. The most interesting thing is seeing how our friendships form and have been changed through the connections that we feel within our own families. The most interesting thing is seeing how people interact outside of their families based on these roles that they take on.Â
Personally, I have three siblings, I am the oldest middle child. Growing up with an older sister, I always wanted to make sure that I was following the right trends, acting the right way, and honestly just wanted to make sure that I was cool enough to hang out with her. In my current friendships, I feel like I constantly am trying to make sure that my friends like my outfits and that we are talking about things like current clothing trends, what’s going on in pop-culture, etc.Â
Being an older sister to two little brothers is also something that completely changed the way that I act as a friend too. Going through your teenage years asking an older sister for relationship advice is something that I always cherished, but having a little brother ask me about girl advice was something that completely changed the way that I give advice to friends too.
Before my siblings were old enough, it was also all “girly” advice and making sure that I was supporting the women’s perspective and the “maneater” stereotypes. When my brother became a teenager, I started to see the other side of how sometimes girls can be completely in the wrong and not understand what a guy is going through.Â
Through being an older sibling, it made me realize that maybe girls need to have more guy friendships to go to for this kind of information. It was completely eye opening and flooded a huge wave of new questions towards my friendships.Â
Being a middle child has shaped who I am as a person, but being an only child or the oldest child still has a massive impact on the way that friendships are formed and carried. Your home life shapes the ways that you interact with others and the world for that matter.Â
Only children often get a bad wrap for being “entitled” or “spoiled”. This comes from having your parents constantly waiting on you. What people don’t usually associate with this feeling is the loneliness that comes with it. Having siblings allows you to basically have a trial run at friendships and how to maintain them.
Friendships that form through sisterly bonds are ones that can be cherished for lifetimes too. Many of my peers have found their bonds through joining clubs and sororities! Through joining organizations on a college campus, you can find such an amazing group of supportive people who are willing to do whatever they can to be that support system that you might be craving.Â
It doesn’t matter if you’re wanting to find your sister, future bridesmaids, best friend, or shoulder to cry on, it’s easier to find those friends by just putting yourself out there regardless of how you think your family background might define you. The older you get the easier it is to grow out of that mindset of being stuck in a family role.
Friendships are meant to be uplifting and prove that your are more than where you came from. That doesn’t mean that our families don’t help the ways that we interact with others, but it also doesn’t mean that it has to be the only way that we find who we are in our new roles entering life!