There can be some difficulty navigating life in high school as siblings, a prime example being Gavin and Cooper Mcleod. Gavin is an established senior and drum major for the Marching Band. Cooper is a freshman who had the goal of being his own person, not living in his older brother’s shadow as preparation for his graduation. 

“It certainly affected me because if there was anything I ever had a question about, I would always just ask him because I knew he’d probably answer it because he’s my brother and I knew he had my back,” said Cooper.

They have both made it a point to support each other rather than getting on the other’s nerves, part of this being related to how they view themselves as siblings. This is because despite having four younger siblings, they find themselves being the closest with each other and don’t seem to think that will change anytime soon. 

“I would say that I’m closer with him than anyone else,” Cooper said, “I am going to miss Gavin next year. Yeah, let’s not elaborate on that one.” 

Being so close though, they have had to be careful about how they treat each other within the band, specifically Gavin and his higher position than Cooper. It may seem difficult to do from the outside, but they seem to have it figured out

They have many shared activities, including marching band and wrestling, but they also have their own separate interests. Cooper does cross country and Gavin previously played baseball. But ultimately they enjoy wrestling because they get to be together. 

“I think it’ll just be another opportunity for us to bond.” Cooper said, “We’ll either not wrestle each other a bunch or we’ll just be the two wrestling partners and we’ll always wrestle each other.”

 With Gavin leaving for college in a little less than a year, Cooper is unsure of the role he will step into as the oldest in the house. He says it will be a bit of an adjustment and is not ready for it to change the family dynamic.

“I’m kind of nervous to become the oldest because Gavin has always been the oldest” Cooper said, “So it will be kind of weird.”

With about a semester left in high school together, these brothers want to make it a great year of making memories before the duo splits up. Sibling dynamics can be complicated to figure out when in high school, but it seems that they have it all figured out.