Personal Narrative: Growing Up Without Siblings

I grew up an only child, without a brother or sister to look up to. Although I have a large family with many cousins, they all go home after the party. Then I would be alone, but that was all before I found my Friends.

Two little girls with matching pink dresses, light up shoes, backpacks double their size skip off to the bus for their very first day of school. To a five year old, kindergarten was a big deal. The first time away from their parents, a new environment, and very intimidating older kids. I knew I was lucky, I got to take on this new experience with my built-in best friend and somehow, knowing that made all the difference.

I used to be very self-centered and outspoken around my family. When I became a preteen, I started to worry more about what my peers thought of me, and I often would apply the looking-glass technique. I started to gain a more negative self-concept since I thought others perceived me as weird, but luckily this idea went away as I got older. I realized I needed to be nicer to my parents because they only want what is best for me. Playing games with me when I was a child must have been horrible.

Sometimes I wonder just how messed up I’ll be for not having a mother around growing up. Other times I am less pessimistic. Regardless, the lack of a stable relationship with a dominant female figure has altered my personality and how I interact with others.

In “I’m Not My Brother; I’m Me,” author Peg Kehret expresses the expectations passed down from her two older brothers and the negative impacts these expectations had on her. From my point of view, I fully agree with the author. In my case, I have a 23-year old sister who is the epitome of perfection. She graduated top of her class in both high school and university, is athletic, and is currently working on Wall Street in New York City. In addition, she is very diligent at Chinese, public speaking, and ultimately anything related to school. As a result of this, as one can imagine, I constantly live in her long shadow. My sister is a very goal-oriented person and strives to reach them. She knew exactly what she wanted to be and the path she had to take to get there at a very young age. Throughout

They could feel pampered by their parents and even siblings. Because of this, the younger could “develop social skills that will get other people to do things for them, thus contributing to their image as charming and popular,” (Whitbourne ll 36,37). And lastly, an only child has their parents undivided attention, which could lead to feeling, “scrutinized and controlled,” (Whitbourne ll 42).

Growing up I knew I was different, I didn’t like the things other children did,

In “I’m Not My Brother; I’m Me,” author Peg Kehret expresses the expectations passed down from her two older brothers and how these expectations impacted her. From my point of view, I fully agree with the author. In my case, I have a 23-year old sister who is the epitome of perfection. She graduated top of her class in both high school and university, is athletic, and is currently working on Wall Street in New York City. In addition, she is very diligent at Chinese, public speaking, and ultimately anything related to school. As a result of this, as one can imagine, I have constantly lived in her long shadow. My sister is a very goal-oriented person and strives to reach them. She knew exactly what she wanted to be and the path she had to take

I am a middle child. I am not the assertive, naturally confident first-born, nor am I an attention-seeking youngest child; I am the quiet, quintessential middle child. For the first 16 years of my life, I was always an afterthought to the craziness of my two sisters, and I loved it‒ it made me independent and self-reliant. I have always been very comfortable being the easy-going child, happily accepting anything that comes my way. Never have I felt that my parents loved me any less; they merely had to worry less about me than they did my siblings, with their stubbornness and constant desire for affirmation. I easily slid under the radar, preferring to mind my own business and handle problems on my own. There was never anything wrong with my

Significant relationships and life experiences that have I have had in giving or receiving help that have motivated me to enter the field of social work would be my dealings with other social workers I have worked with at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Southern California and my life experience as a military child and my experience serving, retiring and making a successful transition from active duty service member to civilian from the Navy. I am the only child to my biological parents. My childhood seemed normal, standard and carefree. My early beginnings were uneventful and ordinary. In elementary school I performed well academically, and participated in the Boy Scouts.

A drop of perspiration made a slow trek down my face as I carefully placed one foot in front of the other, each step taken with a precision a ballerina would envy. The scorching sun was directly behind me, its rays beaming directly through my shirt, making my venture more difficult than it usually was. I hadn’t had luck on my side so far today. The sky was bare of clouds, and no grain bin was tall enough to shade me from the sun. I wore my lucky red shirt specifically for this day. Yeah – I have a lucky shirt, what’re you laughing at? My usual crowd would consist of solely my brother, but today I had two sets of eyes on me. My brother’s, gazing up at me with his permanent look of wonder, and Sarah Crocker’s, her smirk extending beyond her lips

Am I my brother’s keeper? I have continuously asked myself this question since I was a child. My understanding of the question continues to grow, as I get older and wiser. In my opinion, people are more inclined to develop thoughts about their legacies as they age. My case is no different. When I have the time to meditate and just think, I often wonder about it. How will others remember me? How did I affect the world? These questions, along with a burning desire to heal (in any capacity whether it is spiritual, physical or mental), have strongly influenced my decision to become a cardiologist. I believe that my disadvantaged upbringing, uniqueness, and desire to see change in deprived communities will help me achieve my dream: making a difference as a cardiologist.

If you have siblings you will have to share everything, so you get less; but you also get less of the bad things. Siblings can support and comfort each in times of trouble. The elder siblings learn to care for the younger ones and the younger ones learn to respect their elder siblings and have someone to look up to besides their parents. You are more balanced person than an only child.

My Brother - Personal Narrative My brother is the most influential person in my life. His name is

Devastated, I ran to my room gushing my eyes out. All these emotions going through my head of how my life would be without my parents in the same room or even house. From what I remember it all started about mid-June, the weeks before that were crucial. My parents would always argue over how to deal with a situation between me and my brother, Skyler. They hardly spoke to one another, but when they did they would just start bickering. I remember, one night after dinner they both went into ''their'' room with the door locked yelling at one another. Skyler and I didn’t know what to do, so we went downstairs and tried to figure out what was going to happen. With a scared tone I asked if mom and dad were going to get a divorce?" He answered back '' No, they love each other, they wouldn’t do that to us." That following night, was a school night everything was quiet except for my crying. I couldn’t sleep; all I was thinking about how it's going to affect my family.