Birth Order

I am the oldest of two in my family. My younger brother Nick is 16 now and I am 17. My personality is a bit friendlier to most than my brothers. My brother is somewhat a reflection of me since he came after me. I remember growing up and Nick copying me when we were younger but I always hated it. This has to do with birth order. The younger sibling is more likely to be somewhat like the older sibling than not. I can be considered the "tester" since I was the first born; my parents experimented with me to figure out how to sculpt out a good child and it worked for me. I think they worked less on my brother because they figured he would take after me; wrong. My brother has a bad temper and is still very nice but not very sincere all the time. I'm not trying to make myself sound so great, but this is just how I see it. I think the my position of birth order didn't impact me enough. I feel that the younger sibling will typically be cared for more but in my situation, my brother in ways was cared for less. My parents give him everything like most younger siblings but he is not always treated the way I was treated when I was his age. You may think that since I'm only a year and a half older that the gap is too small for there to be a difference, but there is a difference.

Nurture vs. Nature

Examine yourself in the context of the nature vs. nurture debate. Think about your personality characteristics, your likes and dislikes, your strengths and weaknesses. Are you the way you are because of nature (heredity) or nurture (environment, parenting, education, etc.)? If you were to pick a side, which one would win out in your development as a person?

I think I am the way I am because of nurture. I may have genes that gave me my looks and some personality traits but I think that my surroundings have had much more of and impact than anything I've inherited. My characteristics have been molded from the friends I've made and the person that I have become. I have made my own choices based upon my surroundings and friends and who I wanted to be and how I wanted to be seen in the eyes of others. I don't think that I inherited the things I like and dislike. I think that can be credited to what some of my friends like and personal decisions to have certain likes and dislikes for things. My weaknesses and strengths come from how hard I am willing to work and how hard I push myself to be good at something or not care to be good at something and turn that task or skill into a weakness. The people around me and the settings have their impact in who I am because I want to be seen in a higher light to others so in a way my environment sculpts me. Parents have the impact of how hard they push me and how they raise me to act the way I act at times. Education involves friends from school and somebody's friends will always have an impact in how you are as a person.