As the oldest sibling of five kids, I have grown up my whole life being a role model. Most of the time I would say I have been a good role model, but there are times where I sway. We are all very close in age, so it is easy for us to relate to each other. One thing about being the oldest is I have had to carve my own path without any real guidance. My younger sister, now a freshman in college at Creighton University, has heard about all the mistakes I made and experiences I had when I was a freshman, and has received my advice on how I would do it if I'd known what I do now. But would I want it any other way? No. I am the person I am today because of being the leader of my clan (I have one sister and three brothers), and there are definitely perks to being the oldest.
First of all, I am always considered the wisest among my siblings. I am the one my younger siblings look up to for just about anything, because I have gone through everything already. Even if they don’t ask for my tips, I freely give them; I am happy for them to be better off than I was. I don’t think someone’s age determines who is wisest — I think it depends on what you encounter and what you learn from it. Considering that I have encountered a lot and have had to learn from it all, my siblings usually think that I will have the answers to their problems. My sister asks me for advice all the time since she is only a year younger than I am.
Secondly, I will always be the black sheep. Since I was the first to leave for college (the first to do most things), my parents definitely had ideas about what they wanted to happen — And so did. Did I expect my freshman year at Colgate to go exactly the way it did? Nope. And because I strayed from the safe path, I am the black sheep. The first kid that got away. Or escaped. Probably more like escaped. My siblings can do whatever they want now because I broke the rules; and once the rules are broken, they are gone. Why is this a perk for me, though? Because once you rebel and come back, you are praised for returning home.
Thirdly, I’m the first one to go through things, which means that I have more interesting experiences under my belt than my siblings. Some of those experiences are good, some are bad. Once I go through something that does not go too well, my siblings tend to avoid it. But at the end of the day, all of my adventures make for fun and interesting dinner conversation (given that we aren't just arguing over the dinner table, which is what normally happens).
These are just a few of the things I like about being the oldest child. There are some things I don’t like, but I don’t think I would have it any other way.
