Dear Little Brother,
I can’t believe you’re going to college. I know we’ve both expressed our conflicting feelings of happiness, pride, nervousness, and disbelief (that you’re so grown up, that is) towards this huge step in your life, but I really, really, really can’t believe you’re already leaving for college in just a few months. Just a minute ago, you were eleven years old, being annoying as always by trying to hang out with me and my friends. Who do you think you are growing up? You make me feel so old sometimes.
When I look at you, I see you for who you were, who you are, and who you’re becoming (I know it’s cliché, whatever). I see you as a boisterous four year old, relentlessly chasing me around the house trying to infect me with pink eye. I see you as a hysterical ten year old, desperately and repeatedly calling our parents to try to get out of going to Hebrew School every Monday and Wednesday. I see you as an annoying-yet-lovable freshman in high school who needs me to pick him up from tennis far too many days a week. I see you as a mature eighteen year old too eager to grow up, both excited and anxious about what your future may hold. You’re always going to be fourteen in my eyes, and I’m never going to stop wanting to protect you from the harshness of leaving your high school bubble and entering the real world.
I worry about how you will experience college, despite having no reason to worry. I know you’ll easily make friends with your witty sense of humor and charisma, and I have no doubt that you’ll succeed academically. I worry because I care, and I worry because this part of your life is new and foreign; we have no idea what kinds of experiences you’ll have. I also worry because I know there is a real possibility that your roommate will be the worst, considering this is all but a rite of passage for too many college freshman.
More than anything else, I am so excited for you to experience all the new freedoms that college will provide. I can’t wait for you to make all sorts of new friends, and experience new cultures and backgrounds that you have yet to be exposed to. I know that you are going to love choosing from the large spectrum of courses and clubs offered, as well as the newfound sense of freedom and personal responsibility in decision making. I’m also selfishly thrilled you’re staying in SoCal so I can come bother you whenever I want.
I’m confident that once you get to college, it will bring us even closer. From our cringeworthy childhood experiences to our shared secrets, we’ve been through it all together. You’re my best friend in the world, and I couldn’t be more proud of you and the man you’re becoming. Being able to watch you grow up means more to me than words can express, and I love you so much.
Fight on!
Love,
Your Big Sister