To my siblings, I want to thank you for teaching me all that you have.

I am the oldest out of four so I have always felt like the odd one out because there was no one older than me. My youngest sister is a freshman in high school, my brother is a junior in high school, and my other sister is a freshman in college, she also writes for the Odyssey.

While I have been home from break I have been looking through a lot of our old photos and I have noticed a trend in all of them. Whenever we take a group photo there is always one that turns out decent but the rest of them are disasters in the making. I have a tendency to always blink at the exact moment that the picture is being taken. My brother makes faces and doesn’t smile and my sisters are either looking at the camera or looking anywhere but. One thing that is consistent though is the fact that you can tell we are goofing off and for the most part having fun.

I want to thank my siblings for teaching me that it is okay to goof off and look a little silly, even when in public, because those are the memories that are stronger.

There are differences in my sisters and I, ranging from our hair to our styles. I am a tom boyish person while one of my sisters is a girly girl and the youngest manages to combine both of us into one person. Both of my sisters have straight (for the most part) hair and my hair is curly and wavy. For years I have been jealous over the fact that my hair wasn’t like theirs but they have shown me that my hair is wonderful in its own way.

I want to thank my sisters for showing me how to be confident even when I feel anything but.

Being the only boy, I often feel bad for my brother because he is surrounded by us girls. However we have had our moments when we get along, such as playing video games. He always wins, no matter how hard I try, but what astounds me is how my brother teaches himself how to play. This doesn’t stop at video games either, my brother has taught himself how to play quite a few different instruments and I am always impressed by his ability. He also constantly challenges any claims I make and we have very interesting debates, which has helped me a lot in learning how to formulate my thoughts in a coherent manner.

I want to thank my brother for showing me new ways of thinking and for showing me how to speak my mind.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and more often than not I believe it. Since I am always away at school and now one of my other sisters is too there is almost never a moment when we are all together. The picture that goes with this article shows the relationship between my siblings and I perfectly. Yes we argue and fight, but we stick by each other through thick and thin, and I know that they will always be there for me.

I want to thank my siblings for teaching me how to love and accept someone for who they are unconditionally.