All families are different. Some people have a great relationship with their family, some don’t. One specific person has a unique family situation, with more members than the average family typically has. 

Chanel Beck’s family is one with many children; Beck has seven siblings, not counting herself. She is the second oldest in her family, with all her siblings being girls.

“All of them being girls is a lot of work and a lot of fighting because they all have different opinions on something, but I enjoy it because I have people I can relate to and have little me’s walking around,” said Beck.

Being one of the oldest children can be quite a difficult task. Many other older children believe that they are pressured by their parents to be a role model for their younger siblings. That’s something that Beck relates to.

“A lot of it is relying on you, and if something were to happen, I would take a lot of the guilt for it, and it’s hard having a lot of little kids looking up to you at once, so you are watching your every move,” said Beck.

With so many siblings, it can be hard to bond with all of them. Beck is closer to one sibling more than others.

“I’m closer with the second youngest than I am with the rest of them,” said Beck.

Beck is also close to the adults in her life. She looks up to her aunt and says she wants to be like her one day.

“She is very prioritized and organized, and she knows what she wants to do, and her dedication, and I want to be like that,” Beck said.

One of the sports that Beck enjoys playing is basketball. A huge part of sports is having family come and support you, and Beck and her uncle are no different.

“My uncle is a huge basketball person; he always went to my games and motivated me to play basketball and stay in it,” says Beck.

Beck also has a great relationship with her mom. She describes how her mom even helped her pierce her second ear piercing, which created a big bond between them. 

“We are very close, we tell each other everything, and she tells me whatś going on with her,”Beck said.

Family bonds aren’t just with immediate family; cousins can be a big part of someone’s life, too. With Beck’s big family, it is expected that she would have a lot of cousins also. 

“I have a lot of cousins on my dad’s side, but I’m closer to my mom’s side,” Beck said.

Beck described that she wants to join the Navy when she grows up. Family influence was a big deciding factor in that decision. 

“A lot of my family is part of the military, and that’s one of the reasons why I want to go there,” says Beck.

Life can be difficult with such a big family, but Beck loves her’s and still has some good bonds within her family.