One of the most valuable resources a person can have is friends. Whether you need a friend for advice, a listening ear, or just someone to go to the movies with you, a good friend will always have your back.
As I’ve come to find out over the past three and a half years I’ve been in high school, a good friend can be a rarity. It’s almost impossible to imagine when you’re a freshman, but the circle of friends you have will change. It is inevitable.
I’ll be the first person to admit that my circle of friends has changed dramatically since freshman year: a best friend has come and gone, a few strangers have become best friends, a person who meant more to me than anything in the world has become a complete stranger, and a few true friends have stayed exactly where they were in the beginning.
People change as they get older. That’s all there is to it. Something two people have in common when they’re 14 can be completely different by the time the same two people are 17.
Friendship is so much easier the younger you are. Children can become friends with each other just by being neighbors or living within walking distance of each other. As those children get older, however, certain things become more important, namely common interests, goals, and mutual friends. Changing one of those has the possibility to change the dynamics of an entire friendship. Trust me, it happens.
Usually when a friend is lost, another is bound to walk right through the open door left by the old friend. In my case, more than one friend has walked through that open door. People who I didn’t even know existed until the beginning of freshman year have somehow worked their way into my life and are now some of the people that I trust most in the world. This was largely a product of a wider variety of classes in high school. Being split into teams at Turner and having a select number of classes limited who exactly it was possible to be friends with. In high school, however, students with the same level of intelligence, same goals, and same interests are thrown together which gives a broader opportunity to make friends with new people.
Even though some friends will come and go as the years fly by, there will always be a select number that will remain with you no matter what. There are a few people that I have stayed friends with from the time I met them back in fifth grade all the way up until today, my senior year of high school. Those are the friendships that I cherish above all others. They have always been there for me and have seen me at my best, worst, and everything in between. It really is something special when a friendship can last that long and has the ability to mature as people and personalities mature.
While friendships do change over time, that’s nothing to be sad about. There’s a reason a person comes into your life and there’s a reason why a person might not last for as long in your life as you might like.
I want to say thank you, both to the friends that have stayed and to the friends that have not. Every single one of you has brought something different to my life, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.