WHEN YOU’RE the younger sibling, sometimes it can be the best thing, but also there are some things that don’t help. There is a lot of responsibility when it comes to being the older sibling, but there are also some rewards that come with being the oldest. As the youngest, many expect them to live up to an older sibling’s reputation.

Being the youngest sibling in the family I always have thought that it was rewarding. Coming into high school, that is not always the case. Coming to Granger, there were people that I knew not just of my friends but also my sister’s friends who are still in high school. When going to my classes some teachers, would read off the roll and only recognize me as my big sister’s little sister.

“One of the worst things about high school is people comparing you to your older sibling,” Carlee Cobb (9) said. “People dislike being only known for another sibling of the family, rather than calling them by their own name.”

When you’re coming into high school, and you’re the youngest, you take on a position of being the underdog. If your older sibling brought a reputation of being lazy, teachers might make the inference you are as well. “I think it is nice having different siblings in my classes,” Mr. Monson said.

If your sibling was a great student and had wonderful grades, you have this unspoken pressure to live up to their accomplishments, even if you aren’t as interested compared to said person. “My older sister goes to a different school, and I prefer that rather than having her here because now she gets better grades,” Brighton Carter (9) said.

Sometimes it is quite a drag to be consistently compared to older siblings. However, sometimes it is the other way around, and my mom is saying to my older sister that you should do this like your little sister.

My older sister still has distant friends coming to Granger, even if she graduated three years ago. “I think having her as a friend in high school, she made it a better year,” Breylin Talbot said.

People knew Kyra as an intelligent, funny, and outgoing student. Personally, I don’t have most qualities my sister had. I am smart, however, I don’t feel as smart as my older sister. I most definitely am not outgoing. I act quite sheepishly when interacting with new people. Overall, I am generally the polar opposite compared to my sister.

I do indeed love my sister, I love her bubbly personality, intelligence, etc.… But I feel pressured to take on this role that doesn’t feel comfortable. My personal best, school wise, will never be comparable to my sister. Academics and standardized testing are not things I enjoy. Lastly, there are pros and cons to being the younger sibling going into high school, but overall it creates an unnecessary pressure.