The last child is, usually, the favorite, the most spoiled, the weak one, and the dependent one because they are the baby of the family. I am the baby. I am the baby of two older protective brothers. Being their baby sister, I was a perfect dummy for tricks, pranks and whatever else they threw at me. Being the baby of the family and watching my brothers wrestle has helped me grow into a strong and independent person.

Growing up as the baby of my family, and the only girl, I had stereotypes thrown upon me from day one. I was the “baby” and the “princess” and I did not want to be. Sure it was nice having older protective brothers, but I wanted to show them I was more than just their weak baby sister. As I saw my brothers grow up, I learned key things about life. The first is that one must never give up. My brothers were varsity athletes all through high school; this was not an east thing to do on top of school work. However, because of their determination to do their best at everything, they persevered. Seeing my brothers motivation helped me to learn that if I truly want to achieve a certain goal, I can. This helped me develop into a person who will never give up, no matter what.

Another tip that I learned in watching my brothers that has shaped me into the person I am today is the fact that the only person one can control is one’s self. One of my brothers has a saying posted on his wall in his room saying, “Get up and train while your opponent is sleeping;” I love this quote because the quote basically says that nothing will be handed to me, I will have to work. Through this quote and seeing all of my brothers’ hard work, I have learned that life will be hard, but if I remain strong and persevere, I can achieve my goals. I must take care of myself and not be totally dependent on others, because nothing will be handed to me. Closely relating to this is the aspect of kindness. I have seen first hand that kindness can get you extremely far in life. My oldest brother is one of those people who is caring and considerate of everyone. He never hesitates to help people out. I have inherited this trait by his example. Kindness can be the best way to succeed in life.

I never knew that simply being the baby of my family could shape me into the person I have become, but, little did I know, the baby was shaped into a strong and independent person by her over protective brothers. I grew up to defy all assumptions of the baby sister personality and I have grown into a strong person. I don’t always stay off my back, but I do always get back up. My brothers taught me much more than I could even imagine through our fights, talks, games, and simply their example. I know that it is not the number of times I have fallen that makes me a better person, it is the number of times I have gotten back up after I have been defeated that makes me stronger. I witnessed this time and time again with my brothers. I never knew that seeing my older stronger brothers grow up could teach me so much about how to persevere in life. I am so thankful to have been able to learn from such amazing brothers. I may be the baby and the princess of my family, but I am not weak or dependent; I have grown up to be a caring, strong, and independent person.