Sharing a Room With My Sister for

Sharing a Room with My Sister For many of the people I know, the thought of sharing a room with a sibling is horrific. They think only the negatives that could come from such an experience, such as a lack of privacy, and fail to consider the positives that come as a result of having to share a room with a younger sibling. My name is Allison. I am 17 years old, and I have shared a room with my younger sister Emily for 16 years.

In other word, I have no memory of the time before I shared a room with her. While there have been certain times in the past 16 years that I would have gladly traded my sister for a puppy, the reality is that I think that sharing a room with her has helped me mature and become a better person. I also feel that sharing a room has been great for our relationship as siblings.

I have been challenged to be less reserved and more open because I have shared a room with my sister. In fact, I feel like sharing a room with my sister has prepared me for life in a college dorm. I leave for college next fall, and, unlike many of my contemporaries, I have experience dealing with the type of conflicts one might anticipate with a roommate.

One of the reasons I am happy to have shared a room with Emily is that I feel the experience has helped me become a better person. When I have been upset with my family, I have not been able to shut myself away in my room and avoid them, like so many teenagers do. Instead, I have been forced to confront whatever issues I am having.

Whether the problem is that Emily borrowed some of my clothing without permission or that I feel my mother is being unreasonable to me in some way, I have been encouraged to discuss those issues. I feel like this had helped me gain maturity that many of my same-age peers lack; I see that many of them still avoid problems, rather than dealing with them. Therefore, I feel like sharing a room helped contribute to my personal growth and make me a better person.

Furthermore, I find it difficult to imagine my relationship with Emily if we had not shared a room for the past 16 years. We have an extremely close relationship and get along well. I have acquaintances that seem to despise their siblings or not value them very much at all. I certainly do not feel that way about Emily. When it comes down to the wire, she is my best friend, and I am her best friend. We talk about everything.

In fact, there are many nights that we stay up late laughing and talking, so much so that our parents come in to yell at us to go to sleep. I think that family is very important, and that a sibling's support can be the most valuable resource that a person has, and I appreciate having had 16 years of forced close-contact to develop our relationship. One of the ways that our relationship has benefitted me is that I am much more reserved than Emily is.

I have no problem with being reserved and somewhat shy, but I do understand how those traits could possibly hold me back from achieving things in life. Living with Emily, I have learned to be loud and assertive when I need to be, even if it is just an act for me. Likewise, Emily has learned that sometimes.