To me, he's still my little brother.

But little he is not. And it's hard to say I'm his big sister when he's just as tall as I am.

My brother began high school this year. Actually, he began the year at the ninth-grade campus. I guess it's supposed to help students slowly adjust from junior high to high school without throwing them into the sharks prematurely.

When I went home this summer, his voice had changed. It was no longer squeaky, and it didn't crack when he answered the phone. From the other room I could hear him finalizing Friday night plans with his friends. Man, did his voice echo and boom.

As if my plans have no importance at all, I can only get in a few sentences on the telephone before another friend of his calls. Thank goodness the voices on the other end, so far, have been those of other 14-year-old boys asking to speak with him.

When the voices turn out to be feminine, I guess it'll be time for his BIG sis to step in, right?

It seems as if my little brother somewhere along the way transformed into being not so little.

Not only that, but he started being dropped off at the movies. Of course, I remember those days, but who knew those times would circle around so quickly?

Even now, he's talking about taking a trip to Europe this summer with his French class. For me at his age, the last thing I was thinking about was taking a trip some thousands of miles away from my family at the beginning of my summer.

Despite his plans of traveling around the world for a few weeks, he still wants to get a job at a local grocery store to not only have his own money, but also help the family.

But my little brother is a trooper.

He's tremendously brave with a lot of weight to carry, especially since he became the man of the house after my father's sudden passing.

He does school, and, with the exception of that one high B, makes straight A's.

He recently made the junior varsity soccer team, plans to attend Georgia Tech and become a computer-game designer and still has time to comfort his mother and his big sis when times get tough.

And for that I love him all the more.

Remember ninth grade? I shudder to think and recall my freshman year of high school. Although sometimes I call myself a perfect angel, it scares me to think of everything that was out there when I was coming up, and everything I allowed myself to get involved in.

It scares me to think about how much worse things have gotten. I can only hope and pray my little brother proves to be really big when it comes to making the right decisions and choices.

I know many older siblings complain about their little brothers or little sisters tagging along. I admit I used to be one of those annoyed older siblings.

However, I have learned to appreciate that same little guy who would listen on the other end of my so-called important phone calls. Yes, that same youngster who copied everything I said because he loved to see my disgust and agitation.

Although I love and cherish him, girls, please don't start calling because no matter how tall or how old he gets, I will always be his older, protective big sister.

Amber Miles is a junior journalism major from Dallas and serves as associate managing editor for The Tech Talk.