Growing up with three brothers wasn't a hard thing to go through at all. The only hard part was trying to figure out how to put on make up and dress myself according to current trends (thank you for trying to teach me mom, but you've never been quite a girly-girl either). Being the only girl I was forced to watch baseball and hockey rather then Project Runway or Lizzie McGuire. I'm not sad that I had only brothers, because the days we bonded over Pokemon and wrestling over the remote will be days I'll cherish forever. However there are two sister figures in my life, that have showed me how to do many things including how to put on mascara correctly, and how to actually wear that infinity scarf that I got when I was ten.
Being surrounded by guys all the time I was influenced to do things like burp on command, and play in the dirt. I was never really taught how to apply makeup or why it's important to be comfortable in whatever I wore, if it was a dress or those hammy down sweats. The first sister figure I had was when I was 15, someone brand new moved in next door and it one of those girls who took 45 minutes to get ready before anything. At first I hated her, I was one of those tomboys who hated the thought of a girl who tried so hard everyday, and when I eventually got to know her, she didn't make fun of me because I liked my hair in a pony tail, rather showed me how to style it when I didn't want it to be up all day. She showed me some sappy romantic movies and didn't laugh at me when I cried, rather cried with me. She was the first one to show me that not all girls are annoying or prissy(at least not all the time).
The second sister figure I had was when I arrived at college. My roommate was one of the most girly girls I had ever met. She used her own dresser and half of mine because she had so many clothes. She liked makeup and her hair and accessorizing with rings and necklaces and bracelets. She had more shoes then I could count, and ended up wearing two or three pairs of them. However, she was the most down to earth girl I've ever met. She let me rant to her about the boys I liked even though she knew they weren't anything special. She showed me that wearing jewelry makes an outfit complete, and that crying is totally okay no matter what anyone says. She gave me tips on outfits and gave her honest and genuine opinion.
Although growing up with all boys all the time was hard, I've developed into a actual girl, one that wears dresses and does her nails but can still tell you who scored the third goal in the hockey game last night. Thank you Alexa and Kaitlin for showing me how to be a girl and be proud of it.
