I'm the middle child of five kids — I have two older brothers and two younger sisters with me smack dab in the middle of it all. For a while growing up, I hated having a big family. My mom wasn't around for a short time (she came to the United States for a couple of years before the whole family) so it was just my dad and a few of our babysitters for around two to three years. I thought there was always way too much chaos and not enough attention to go around (#middlechildproblems, much?).

But, over the years, I've learned so much from each of them — about life, about love, about moments, about people, and about myself.

1. Work hard at what you love and you'll love the life you live.

My oldest brother, who graduated from UConn around two years ago is now 24 and successfully working as a nurse at Yale Hospital, just came back from a cross-country road trip last night. Around two weeks ago, he was at a music festival in Vegas and before that, he was all the way across the ocean skydiving in Dubai.

He was the first child of five so there were probably a lot of pressure and responsibilities that were placed on his shoulder that I'm probably not aware of. But, I think if anyone was to do it, it was him.

Whenever I think of someone I look up to or whenever I struggle just going through college, I think of my brother. I think of how much heart he put into becoming the person he is now and that's something I continuously strive towards.

2. Take time finding what you love and don't settle for anything less.

My other brother (fun fact: while my siblings and I are all consecutively three years apart from each other, my second oldest brother and I are only a year, a month, and a day apart so it was always our running joke that we were actually twins) was the type of person that never liked the ordinary.

Growing up in a traditional Asian family, education was always the number one priority. My brother is, in his own right, probably one of the smartest people I know but he always had a heart for something else. At the beginning of his college career, my brother switched his major several different times. He took interests in a plethora of things until he discovered his love for cars, machinery, and in a sense, engineering. I knew, however, that those things weren't enough to settle the kind of adventurous spirit he had.

In turn, my brother signed up for the police academy and is actually almost three months deep into Marines boot camp. The kind of courage he has to not settle for anything less is the kind of courage I want to embody for myself.

3. Loving yourself means realizing your self-worth and owning up to what you deserve.

My younger sister has always loved the idea of the grand, the beautiful. In other words, I like to call her high-maintenance (sometimes overwhelmingly and painstakingly so). Throughout the years, I've learned however that this is my sister's way of not settling for less than what she deserves. Despite her seemingly irrational wants and desires, they are something that reflects her self-worth and rightfully so.

This was her way of owning up to what she deserved, regardless of what everyone else thought.

My sister was never the type to bend-over-backwards for people and never liked to compromise her own self-worth for the pleasure of others. She probably has enough tenacity to last us all a lifetime and while loving myself is something I continue to struggle with, it is something I'm learning from my younger sister.

And for this, she is the best kind of role model I could ever dream of having.

4. Be patient and be empathetic.

My youngest sister, who is only 13 but probably has more artistic talent in her right pinky finger than I do in my whole being, has taught me a lot about patience. Patience for people, for love, for her passions, and most importantly, for family.

Sometimes, I jokingly excuse my sister's overwhelming patience and empathy to her being a Pisces (which she is and which I always am but clearly, I'm a whole different kind of Pisces). But, I think, my youngest sister has a type of pureness and innocence to her that hasn't weathered despite her growing up. It's still a light that I see in her eyes, in the way she treats others, in the way she views the world and it's a light that I've found myself wandering towards through my darkest days.

She has the kind of heart that'll change lives one day.

However, to this day, I think these have been the greatest lessons I have learned so far (and still am continuing to learn).