A senior — we'll call him Bob — in the taproom of (insert eating club name here) hears shouts of "get a room!" to find a couple right behind him practically eating each other's faces. He recognizes the girl — she was in his orgo class, and they dated last year. Just as he's about to turn back, the couple come up for air. Bob suddenly recognizes the boy, too, and feels the boot rise as orgo girl wipes her lip gloss off Bob's freshman brother's face. Is this what going to Princeton with your bro or sis is like?
They convinced us into going on OA, they give us class advice, we meet up with them at Frist, and we run into them on the street. Rather than leaving home behind, some of us have rediscovered a piece of it here at Princeton. But just how freaky is it when your relative, in totally slurred speech, asks you for quarters or you catch each other dancing less than cleanly? I certainly can't speak for all the younger Princeton siblings, but I can share my own experiences.
Nightlife encounters aside for a moment, the most obvious effect of having an upperclassman brother or sister at your college is the acquisition of automatic peer advisors in both your sibling and his or her friends. Whether you're not sure if you can trust a student course guide prof review, have no idea what the hell PDFing is and were too embarrassed to ask anyone else, or are looking for the best way to fulfill a QR, having an older brother or sister is infinitely helpful.
More mutual benefits can also result from Princeton siblingdom. After Princeton accepted me, my parents were finally convinced that giving "us" — it's totally my brother's, let's be serious — a car to have on campus made sense (you're welcome, bro). He's awesome about sharing it, and being able to make trips to the mall or Wegman's without having to deal with the sketched-out Walmart bus is a definite plus.
Having a different option for transportation, however, is pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. Being a freshman with an older Princeton sibling completely changes your social experience. The occasional meal exchange provides not only an escape from the bowels of the dining halls but also a little window into the daytime atmosphere of eating clubs. Probably the most changed part of the Princeton sibling's social life, however, is his or her experience of the nighttime atmosphere at the Street. Passes are a little easier to come by, you get a human version of the "Princeton Portal" to let you know what's going on, and sometimes the blood connection matters more (as well it should) to the non-tool bouncers than a friend connection does. Assuming your sibling isn't a hermit, his or her friends are also a huge help. Not only can they get you in to eating clubs or room parties, but it's also just nice knowing and being friends with a bigger set of people at school.
That said, the social scene can at times be extremely bizarre. Seeing your big bro or sis decked out in a toga or "ho" getup and dominating in a robo game at the other side of the room has its own special shock factor. Watching your younger sibling wait in the crowd near the tap or recover at Frist is probably an equally weird experience. As with the first time you ran into your high school teacher in jeans and a T-shirt at the grocery store, though, you come to realize that your brother or sister is actually a real person. A kind of sibling etiquette develops, and it becomes clear when saying "hi," or maybe even playing a game of beirut together is appropriate and when it's best to just do the quick eye-aversion thing and pretend you didn't see each other.
Overall, if you get along with your bro or sis, going to college with him or her is pretty sweet. You come to school knowing lots of people who've figured out the whole college thing, campus and the town of Princeton feel pretty homey from the get-go, and you can assuage the fears of a mom nervous about sending away her baby. Personally, not having attended the same school and consequently not having lived year-round in the same place as my brother since eighth grade, I think coming to Princeton has let my big bro and I get to know each other again. I'd even go so far as to say the seemingly awkward moments at the Street can sometimes bring siblings closer. Now that I've had a cheese-filled moment, for those of you who don't get along with your Princeton sibling, milk the car thing for all it's worth. Laura Berner is a freshman from Rye, N.Y.
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