As an incoming freshman girl with a senior brother on campus, I wasn’t sure if sharing a last name with him was going to be a blessing or a curse. Now that I’m here, I’ve found that it can be a little bit of both.
1. You run into them a lot more than they would probably like.
Whether it’s on the walk to class or the walk to Friday night’s festivities, my big brother can always count on his annoying little sister to embarrass him in front of his friends, and stop to send a picture to Mom and Dad.
2. You learn the ins and outs of your school quickly.
Since the day I chose Pitt, I have been instructed on which classes to take, which houses to avoid, and where to eat the best food for the least amount of money. I also learned my way around campus pretty fast, after visiting several times over the past few years. But now that I’m a student here, the Cathedral of Learning is where I have to attend classes, not just a good Instagram opportunity.
3. You never travel alone.
Nothing says “family bonding” quite like an uncomfortably long road trip. The six-hour car ride is brutal to say the least, but I’m sure my brother enjoys every second we spend together during those trips. So much so that he falls asleep within ten minutes and wakes up when we reach our destination.
4. Occasionally you can trick them into being seen with you in public.
Sometimes if I catch him on an off day, and all of his friends are in class, my brother will half-heartedly agree to eat lunch with me in the dining hall. This is a nice way to remind them that they have to be related to you no matter how hard they try to avoid you. My brother likes to keep these outings brief, but that’s okay. Deep, deep, deep down, he’s literally obsessed with me.
5. Not feeling homesick the way other freshmen do, because you have a part of home right there with you.
When I start to miss home after my mom sends me a picture of my dog, it’s nice to have a familiar face only three blocks away. My brother is the one friend I have at school who has watched me grow up. He will still there to support me when being an overwhelmed freshman gets to be too much to handle. Having an older sibling at your college also means having a best friend to turn to when you’re struggling, and a best friend with whom you get to spend some of the best days of your life.
