Like most siblings, I always went to the same school as my sister, Kate. Same middle school, same high school, but when it came time to go to college, the last thing I wanted to do was go to the same school. It's not like I hate my sister or anything like that. I just wanted to be able to go to a school where I wasn't, "Kate D's little sister."
I grew up in my sister's shadow.
Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly proud of all that my sister has accomplished, but what I really wanted was to make my own mark in the world, not just be compared to Kate.
When it came time to look at colleges, my family and I looked at three: Kean University, TCNJ, and Rowan University where Kate already was attending. I kept such a closed mind toward Rowan because I was so adamant on going to a different college than my sister. I wound up going to visit Kate for Little Siblings weekend at Rowan, and my entire perspective of Rowan changed.
She showed me around campus and introduced me to some of the friends she had made, and she took me to different events on campus. During my stay with Kate, I got to see just a sample of all the great things Rowan had to offer, one of which included the sorority she was apart of.
Slowly, I started to open my mind to Rowan, and eventually, I fell in love with the school, and I knew that it was where I belonged.
I was kind of nervous at first because, once again, I was following in my sister's footsteps. I guess I didn't really realize just how big a college campus could be. I thought I was going to see her everywhere and it would be like I never really left home.
Boy, was I wrong.
My first semester, I maybe saw my sister twice overall. Despite thinking I'd see my sister all the time, I gradually adapted to student living alone. No matter where I went, the chances of meeting people who would automatically know who I was due to Kate was slim to none.
Now, that doesn't mean she completely dropped off the face of the Earth or anything. We would talk on the phone occasionally and she would check up on me, as well as help me whenever I had questions about school. Sometimes she would come to my room so she could borrow my clothes as if she doesn't have her own, and she even gave me a key to her house where she lives off-campus.
I think the best part about having my sibling go to the same college as I do is that, no matter what, I still have a little piece of home with me, as lonely as it may feel on campus sometimes. It's reassuring to know that when I have a rough day or my professor is driving me crazy in my least favorite class, I have someone nearby that I can comfortably call and rant to. Unlike my parents, my sister gets how I feel because, odds are, she's currently or has past dealt with something similar.
For those of you out there, who think that you have to go to a different college from your sibling, don't worry so much about it. Nobody will know who you are, or where you come from, so make your own first impressions.
In my experience, at least, going to college with my sibling has been a blessing in disguise.
