1. It starts the moment you receive your acceptance letter. She was almost happier and more emotional than you when she found out you were accepted to the university she had spent the past three years and at. Through your decision process she tried to not push you to chose it but knew it was the perfect fit for you the whole time. Because we are so similar in every other aspect, of course we ended up happening to go to the same liberal arts school. Finally, with great excitement you commit to the school, and the experience of sharing an alma mater with your sister will begin.
2. People will think you ARE her. Often. Maybe even daily. My sister and I are three years apart but look so similar that we’ve been told (again and again) that we could pass for twins. Going to a somewhat small college, people could not get past the fact that the “Little Rostin” was also on campus, meaning there would be TWO people that look that much alike in the same radius. This will happen in halls, in classes, in Starbucks. By professors, students, and peers. I was referred to by my sister's name more times by the end of Welcome Week than I could have imagined. And one guy that I thought was hitting on me? He definitely thought I was my older sister and I’m not sure who that moment was more embarrassing for. Sure, it will be weird at first because you want to be an individual and may get sick of constantly hearing “It’s the mini one!”, but in reality you aren’t even mad. She is a great person to be compared to and you take it as a compliment because people think of you as highly as they think of her. There is no one else I would rather be confused for on the daily.
3. You will have someone there through those surprisingly lonely first weeks of college. And it comes in handy to have someone to text to get lunch with, and to avoid the whole “eating in the dining hall alone the first week” thing.
4. You will go out for the night together and make ridiculous memories as only two truly ridiculous sisters could. (Warning: she will definitely get really protective of you and end up playing mom as you do something ridiculous, like roll away on a desk chair, its just an older sister instinct.)
5. Speaking of her having maternal instincts over you, this will kick in as she sees you navigating away from your actual mom for the first time. She won’t be able to resist checking in to make sure you got home safe or making sure you aren’t spending your allotted meal plan dollars on coffee. She will be there as you try to navigate the grocery store for the first time.
6. She will generously accept the free Starbucks you offer her through your Flex Dollar swipes, before you catch on to how quickly these will run out.
7. Her senior house is a five minute walk across campus. This means that weekends spent watching Friends, mid- week life talks, study sessions, meals and visits between classes will be frequent and essential. Her house becomes almost an extension of your dorm room because there is always a spot on their futon for you. The same would be said for her in your actual dorm room, but unfortunately she was quieted by an RA when she came to visit because the two of you scream laugh too loudly after hours, and being shushed by an RA can be quite humbling when you are about to graduate.
8. Your college friends become each other’s friends. It isn’t even a question whether she’s coming out for wing night, especially when your friends casually start liking your sister more than they like you. Her roommates aren’t surprised to walk in on you watching Friends on their couch, they have become just as close with you.
9. When you are hanging out with other people, you confuse them via having your own way of communicating with each other. My sister and I are possibly the only people than can fluently understand one anothers attempts to talk through laughter and people often marvel at how scary similar we are as we entertain ourselves building scenarios that are just elaborate inside jokes. This will be especially true when you come home on breaks and share inside jokes and memories from the semester that will leave your friends from home confused by those “had to be there?” moments
10. Anything you face your first year, she has likely been through before. She will have kick ass advice that keeps you sane. She has been through it all, anything from finals week to growing apart from your first semester friends. If she hasn’t, you will learn some things first hand, or her cool roommates might have and are just as supportive as she is in helping you figure your life out. On the flip side of this, she is able to relive the glory (and at times awkward) days of first year through you.
11. You always have a dependable ride home for breaks, complete with 90's throwback playlists and inevitable drive-thru stops. From her perspective, she will always know she has a dependable DJ and co-pilot for the drives back home.
12. You are never homesick because your favorite person from home is right there on campus. It is nearly impossible to get homesick when your sister is possibly your favorite person to hang out with from home.
13. She knows your freshman meal plan is not desirable and has a car. She will be extremely helpful in offering to take you with when she is craving fast food and any time she goes out to eat, especially the days with great food deals. Half price sushi night, boneless wing night, and dollar coffee hours are all rituals we took pretty seriously this past year.
14. When you go through recruitment you may even end up in the same house as your sister. Sharing such a powerful sisterhood with your own sister and sharing in the legacy of our house makes the experience that much more meaningful to me. Also, I came up with endless witty Instagram captions about her now being my sister and my sister.
15. Exploring your new city is much more fun with someone who already knows the chilliest spots and the best places to get cheap tacos. Then you look impressive to other freshman when you can tell them where the best and closest ice cream places are within your first week on campus.
16. Through every big or exciting moment that comes along your first year there, you have someone who will be equally emotionally invested in your triumphs to celebrate with. Even through the messier moments of freshman year, such as every time I would have a panic attack over choosing a major, she was there to lift me back to my truest self.
17. No one better understands the stress of your parents coming for an impromptu visit and you will panic text each other that they’re on the way.
18. Then, after one year of advice, screech laughing and hanging out, your sister will graduate and move on to do cool things with her graduate school self. But she will leave you being a more well adjusted, more confident and better version of yourself because you had the advantage of spending your first year away with your older sister there for support. The best thing about having an older sister is that she has guided you through almost everything in your life, while being supportive enough to help you to make it your own life and become an individual. It almost feels like cheating the system by having an extension of yourself there with you, and a lot of people don’t get that great of a transition to college, so enjoy it and make memories of your college selves.
19. Above all else, freshman year will make a lot more sense when your sister is there. Now it is time to make your experience all your own.
