Who am I? Am I just a daughter? A friend? A sister? Who am I?

One thing I ask myself daily is, who I am. A few things that come to mind when I ask myself this include an athlete, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a girlfriend. When I think of myself as an athlete, I think of how many sports I have done over the years. In grade school, I played soccer, volleyball, softball and basketball. Now that I am in college, I am a different kind of athlete. I play lacrosse and never imagined that I would be a collegiate athlete. Being a collegiate athlete has been a whirlwind of emotions. Some days it is overwhelming and makes me almost break down. Other days, it makes me really happy knowing that I represent my school.

When I think of myself as a daughter, I think of how my parents raised me. I think of our family values and what they engrained in me at a young age. My parents always told my older brother and me to be polite, clean up after myself, and offer to help with cleaning up from dinner. It became instinct to ask if anyone needed help with anything. I was raised to say yes and no ma’am along with yes and no sir. Some adults may view it as a sign of disrespect because many people do not use the terms anymore, but it is just how I was raised.

When I think of myself a sister, I immediately think “I am just the little sister…” Sometimes when I hear my older brother’s rules and compare them to mine, I often get discouraged. I sometimes think my rules are different because I am a girl and the youngest. Every now and then I think I have the better rules because my parents know my brother and I are good kids. I had a curfew but if I was late, there was never a major punishment.

When I think of myself as a friend, I think of one that is always there for my friends. My friends know that if they ever need to talk, they can call or text me. My friends also know that no matter what time it is, I will always be there for them. I have known one of my best friends since Kindergarten. We could go weeks, or even months, without talking but the second something happens she is one of the first people I call.

When I think of myself as a girlfriend, I think of how lucky I am to have my boyfriend. My boyfriend and I have been dating five and a half years and I could not be happier. He has been there for me through transferring in the middle of high school to transitioning in college. We both decided that we are going to stay local when it came to college. Our schools are only twenty minutes apart and I love how close we are.

Who am I? I am me.