I happen to be the only girl with two brothers and for the majority of my teenage years I grew up surrounded by guys, so I’m not a typical 18 year old girl, instead a lot of the time I’m just “one of the guys”. I wrote a more serious article about the guys I grew up with a few months back and here's my stab at the funny side of things.

Pro #1: Less drama

Girls are dramatic and girl drama lasts forever. Guys on the other hand can fight it out and sometimes even throw a few punches to get out their anger with one another and all is well. Girls will stop talking for weeks and months at a time until they forget why they’re blowing each other off. Less drama=more happiness.

Con #1: They're overprotective. Very overprotective.

I spent my teenage years in an ice rink with college-aged guys who became my brothers. As the oldest in my family, I’d always wanted an older brother and at the age of 13 I suddenly had twenty-five plus. It’s nice to know that there are people looking out for you, however, when you’re 18 and want to date, it’s not as nice, especially when you go to the same college you grew up hanging around and your 25 “brothers” know the guy you’re into and have probably told him he shouldn’t date you. For some reason they don’t feel better about the fact I’d want to date someone they know and can keep an eye on. Twice already this semester I’ve had one of the guys tell me there’s no way their “little sister” is old enough to be in college even though I’m 18 turning 19. I can’t count the number of times one of the guys has given the guy I’m interested in a look or made sure to sit or stand in between us when we’re trying to talk.

Pro #2: You have someone to talk sport(s) with that actually understands what you’re talking about.

Even when you play on an all girls hockey team, high school aged girls still don’t spend a whole lot of time talking about other hockey, whether it’s college or pro. It’s nice to be able to talk about the game the night before with the guys who you know either watched the game or looked up highlights afterwards or talk about the latest prospect your team drafted a few months prior.

Con #2: You’ve more than likely been asked if you’re dating or want to date any number of them.

I’ve had friends ask me if I thought one of them was hot and friends think that some of the guys I’ve never thought as anything but a brother was hot. Talk about awkward.

Pro #3: You know how to talk to guys

You can jump right into most conversations with guys and not feel weird or out of place because you’ve grown up with guys. It makes it way less intimidating when you want to talk to someone you’re interested in and you feel way less stupid trying to make conversation.

Con #4: When you’re interested in someone, it’s slightly obvious

Interested in a guy who’s friends with your friends? They will probably figure it out in a matter of no time and when they do, good luck. They tend to notice when you give one guy less grief than the rest of them or make it a point to talk to one of them and so on. After they figure it out, you will never ever hear the end of it.

Pro #5: You learn how to hold your own

What happens when you grow up as the only girl then grow up with guys? You learn how to hold your own and know how to take care of yourself if needed. When they got taller than you, you learned how to make them your size again and you can kick some serious butt if necessary. I play hockey and learned how to play hockey playing against all the guys I grew up around who were all twice my size, it comes in handy every now and again.

Con #5: You come across as mean sometimes

Guys are constantly giving each other grief about something. But it’s a different story when you’re hanging around a group of girls and they think you’re mean. Not mean, just used to hanging with guys...

Pro #6: They always have your back

I’m so thankful that if I need someone to walk me back to my dorm at night if I don’t feel safe and even thankful that they’ve probably tried to scare the poor guy I’m interested in a time or two. There is a lot of comfort in knowing that someone has your back no matter what. My longest friendships that I have have been with guys because they don't let stupid things affect their friendships nearly as much as girls do and they'll always have your back.