I used to think being the youngest child was definitely a curse without any blessings; especially with my two older brothers constantly reminding me that they see me as a six year old (which even to this day in my twenties, they make sure to remind me they still do). For a very long time I still thought that way until I found myself being the youngest out of my friends, at work, in my classes, and just about everywhere else, that I recognized there are actually some pros to it; but of course cons as well.
As the youngest child my life consisted of being picked on, living in my brothers shadows, and a lot more. However when you look back at everything, you notice you have some serious pros compared to cons in these situation. Because my brothers picked on me constantly, I was able to develop thick skin and learn not let anything unnecessary get to me. Due to living in their shadows, I was able to not only see and learn from their mistakes as they developing their shadows but also have them advise me on how to reach my goals and develop my own shadow based off their own experience. Some of the other pros you notice you get from being the youngest child are: you got to benefit from the battles they had to go through to be allowed to do something, you knew all the stuff that was considered “cool” before it reached your age level, and at the end of the day you were never really alone at any point in time.
Being the youngest in my group of friends was never really a big deal to me, until I entered college that is and everyone started going out more. Honestly, being the youngest in the group of friends is a mission and a half. You try to make plans with your friends; but, it has to be somewhere you know you are allowed, that is still fun, and will not drag them down… which tend to be slightly hard to find. Then there is also the situation in which your friends want to go to a place for the first time, but you cannot go due to your age restriction. When I say MISSION AND A HALF, believe me it was. But, of course there is a bright side to all this which I learned when I finally turned old enough to no longer worry about my age. Due to being the youngest all those years, your friends already got to try out places before you did and tell you if it worth the hype or not; saving yourself the time and money. Also, when it is finally your birthday and you are officially no longer “too young” for anything, the celebration is ten times bigger because the whole squad gets to finally reconnect.
Although I was already used to being the youngest out of my siblings and friends, becoming the youngest in a new place all over again is a whole new process. I am the youngest in my office and in my classes, which I at first assumed would not be a very big deal. Then I would start listening to comments like “you are a kid”, “you are too young to know anything about that”, “aw you are just a baby.” Hearing these things can make you feel out of place and frustrated. However, these people that are calling you a kid and too young have many years of experience on their backs that you can ask them about and learn from if they are willing to share. For example, by paying attention to how your coworkers treat their job, you can learn and start developing how you want to and do not want your professional life to be.