Really Cheesy, but I LOVE My Friends

I do not have many old pictures of myself here with me in college, and I am from Illinois so I can't exactly go digging through my parents' photo albums to search for a good one. So, I turned to Facebook. Like a typical college student, I was already logged in while I was reading this week's blog post assignment.

At my schools, we would have a class picture taken each year from kindergarten to fifth grade. Last year, one of my friends, Jake, put each of his class pictures up on Facebook. This picture is the one he posted from fifth grade.

My friends from this class can be classified into two simple groups: the ones that I am still friends with, and the ones that I am not. In fifth grade, my primary friends was a group of four: me, Kelsey, Megan, and Taylor. Megan moved during middle school, but I still would occasionally see Kelsey and Taylor in passing throughout high school even though we don't talk anymore. There was no fight or drama; we just gradually grew apart and started talking less and less until we got to the point of ignoring. Sad, isn't it?

Not as bad as I thought. I struggled as we grew apart because I did not want to let go. However, I have finally recognized how this was so much better for me. As we grew apart, I slowly realized that I needed to move onto different people. So, I started spending more time with my secondary group of friends from my fifth grade class, specifically Kyle and Khadijah. Khadijah is one of the people I can always turn to when I need to talk. It's very common for us to have "Chipotle dates" just to catch up and vent to each other. Kyle, on the other hand, is the crazy guy that I would spend a ridiculous amount of time with. He drove me to high school every day starting as soon as he got his license, we somehow got multiple classes together each year, we shared our lockers for three years, and I was his "alarm clock" because if I didn't call him in the morning and talk to him until he got out of bed, he would just fall back asleep.

My old friends taught me to appreciate the amazing people in my life through contrast. They were never the kind of friends that were there for me, they were just fun to hang out with. They helped me understand when I am better off moving on and pursuing something better. My current friends are each more unique and have their own areas of impact on my life. I could ramble forever about each of my current best friends, so it's good that I limited myself to my fifth grade class. Khadijah has helped mold me into a person that is able to be open with people that I am close to and trust them. She is one of the few people that has never let me down, so she helps me stay hopeful. Kyle has shown me how fun it is to be crazy with your friends and not worry about what other people think about you. He is the perfect example of someone who does and says whatever he wants to. He has no "censor" or "off" button, and as a result is one of the most confidant people I know. Without all my friends being by my side for so long as we grow up together, I feel that, besides being lonely, I would be a different person today. I am an individual, but I will still admit that the significant people in my life each have a share in molding who I am for the better.