From taking up an entire pew at church to spending an hour and a half waiting for a table at a restaurant, here are a few of the things I learned from growing up in a big family. If you come from a family with more than five children, you understand where I'm coming from.

I learned to have thick skin.

There is no one in the world that can get under your skin as quickly and easily as your family. They know your faults and your failures and are not afraid to point them out and belittle you for them. They are the ones who aren't afraid to call it like they see it, whether it be a pimple on your face or calling you out for being a brat. Having a big family means having more than one person constantly teasing you. Sometimes, the whole family joins in at the same time.

I learned what it meant to put others first.

Big families mean mom and dad can't always be the ones to drive you to your soccer practices or after-school activities. If your family was like mine then you understand the difficulties that came with having two full time working parents trying to raise a household of wild children. I learned that big families require sacrifice. Sometimes this sacrifice means canceling your Friday night plans to babysit your little siblings or staying up even later to study for your test the next day because you had to spend the afternoon running them from one practice to the next.

I learned what it means to work hard.

Most of my friends growing up had some sort of an "allowance." Coming from a big family meant that money was always a little tighter than most families. Because of this, I learned that if you want something in life it isn't going to be handed to you. If you want to go to the movies with your friends then that means going out and getting a job to pay for your ticket, not expecting your parents to fork over ten bucks at your convenience. It is is exactly because of this that I learned how to be a high school student balancing a busy work schedule, athletics, and school, all at the same time.

I learned how to pick my battles.

If your family is anything like mine then you understand just how much big families fight. But coming from a big family taught me that even if the other person is wrong, sometimes the best thing to do is be silent. I learned through my siblings how to bite my tongue and walk away when I all I really wanted to do was smack them across the face and yell right back.

I learned what loyalty really means.

Growing up, my dad always told my siblings and me that at the end of the day, your loyalty lies with your family. It wasn't until I was older that I realized the truth of this statement. When everything seems to be changing and falling apart, there's always one thing throughout my life that has remained constant: my family. They are the ones who know all my flaws, who know the skeletons in my closet, and still stand by my side. It is through them that I learned that loyalty is sticking with someone through the thick and the thin, no matter how angry they make you.

I learned how to compete.

If there's one thing that could probably destroy every single relationship in my family, it's probably Monopoly. I can't tell you how many times my mom had to take away a board game from me and my siblings growing up. More often than not this led to being sent to bed early without supper because of how badly the game tended to end. My family from the beginning has always been very competitive, and no one, and I mean no one likes to lose. We're probably the biggest sore losers I have ever met.

I learned what friendship is at its utter core.

It wasn't until I was at college, 1,800 miles away from my family that I realized exactly what kind of relationship I had with my family. These were the people that I had known my whole life. These were the people that I shared my first memories, first laughs, and first moments of life with. It was when I was taken away from them and not always around them that I realized that my siblings were my best friends.

I know without a shadow of a doubt that growing up in a family with seven children means I have six other people who, no matter what, will always have my back. I have six other people who are willing to do anything and everything for me no matter the situation. I have six other people who can just as easily dry my tears as they can make me laugh. These are the six people who I'm both blessed and lucky to call my best friends. And I wouldn't have it any other way.