With the beginning of a new school year, many former Chamblee students are starting classes at college soon. This includes the process of leaving family behind and beginning adulthood. Some current students are experiencing what its like to have an older sibling leave the home for the first time and the changes that come with it.
“My grandma texted me the other day and asked what it felt like being an only child, but even though I live without my sister, it doesn’t mean that I’m an only child. I guess there was a point of realization that she’s not coming home permanently any time soon,” said Rowan Schreiber (‘27).
Schreiber’s older sister, Hayden Schreiber (‘24) recently left to study Marketing at the University of Georgia.
“My sister left for college last Friday. She chose to go to UGA because that’s what she has looked at for the past few years and she has many friends that are at UGA as well. It’s just one of the places she looked at and really liked,” said Schreiber.
Determining which college to attend can often be a difficult decision for students; there are many factors to weigh in, including location.
“Because UGA is in-state, she was able to get the scholarship which definitely factored into the decision. I feel like she probably wishes she was a little farther from my parents, but an hour from home isn’t that bad,” said Schreiber.
While there are many negative aspects, there are also many positives.
“The biggest positive is that my parents don’t really have to stress about two kids now, but I guess that’s not really a positive for me and it’s more for my parents. Personally, I’m happy because I get to use all the clothes she left behind,” said Schreiber.
Gia Choy (‘26) is currently preparing for her sister, Hannah Choy (‘24) to leave for college.
“My sister hasn’t left for college yet; her school is on a quarter system so she’s leaving in mid-September. She’s going to Northwestern University, and she’s taking an interdisciplinary major. It has a really good community and she really wanted to go out of state for college. She also really loved the big-city energy from Chicago which is only one hour from her college,” said Choy.
Having a sibling leave home is often a bittersweet moment for everyone involved.
“I guess I’m happy for her because it makes her happy, but it’s gonna be a big adjustment for her to not be here. Hopefully she’ll visit on holidays, and sometimes I’ll visit her,” said Choy.
Some siblings find that being the only child at home can be good due to getting majority of the attention from parents.
“I think the biggest positive with her moving away is that my mom will be able to focus on only driving me places instead of both of us because I don’t have my license yet,” said Choy.
It can be an especially difficult process to see a sibling leave the home when a sibling relationship is very tight-knit.
“The biggest negative is that I kind of lost my best friend and someone I get to talk to all the time,” said Choy.
Mary Entrekin (‘25) has an older sister going into her second year of college attending the University of Houston.
“She’s at the University of Houston and she’s studying kinesiology with a minor in nutrition. She chose to go to Houston because she wanted to swim in college and they were one of the schools that had good coaches and the major she wanted to pursue. I guess when she met the team she really liked them too.” said Entrekin.
Some students have more experience with seeing a sibling leave and have gotten more used to the adjustment.
“I’m going through the recruiting process now and she went through the recruiting process as well so she is a good role model to look up to on how to handle all of that. She’s done such a good job of keeping in touch and calling really often so I hope I can do the same,” said Entrekin.
Although her sister has been away for a year by now, it can still be strange to have one less person around the house for Entrekin.
“I used to share a bathroom with Evelyn and our rooms are right next to each other, so it was a lot different when she left because I would walk into her room and she wouldn’t be there. I remember the day she left we all got up at 5am because her flight was really early so we could all have a chance to say goodbye. She still does a good job of calling us at least once a week though,” she said.
Although an adjustment, having a sibling go off to college is important to push them in the direction of success.
Entrekin said, “The biggest positive is that I get to see all her success. She’s been swimming really well and she was able to go to the Olympic trials, which was really cool to see.”
