DAY BY DAY

OC's best family calendar

October 2008 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

KID

QUIPS

During last July’s 5.8 earthquake, 3-year-old Bronwyn told her 1-year-old sister, “We’re going for a wiggle.” READ MORE

SUBMIT YOUR QUIP

Teen Years

Friendships It is the people who count, who really count. By Ryan MoyPublished: June, 2004

Print This Article Email This Article RSS Subscribe Digg This Article

This month marks the culmination of my high school career. Soon, I will be receiving my diploma, packing my suitcase and embarking on a new, uncharted life as a college student. And while I won't miss the tedium of daily homework assignments or the 7 a.m. zero period bell, I will undoubtedly miss one thing: my friends. As I reflect on my high school experience, I now realize that friends have a greater impact on me than I once thought. They can shape nearly all aspects of our lives, from our patterns of thinking to our behavior around other people. In fact, our friends oftentimes exert a bigger influence than our parents do. This wasn't quite so true in years past, when friendships embodied a different meaning. I can remember dashing across the playground in lively games of freeze tag or playing the latest video games at my best friend's house as a young elementary school child. Indeed, childhood friendships are often about finding play companions. But upon growing up and becoming a teenager, I discovered that the definition of "friend" evolved as well. Perhaps this new meaning resulted from my nascent sense of maturity, as I began to view the world differently. No longer was a friend merely a playmate. Rather, a friend forged a deeper personal connection with me. I soon realized that friendship centered on the compatibility of interests. Some might be inclined to believe that these interests should be identical, but that's not necessarily the case. For example, one of my friends is an avid photographer; another is a tennis enthusiast, while I am a journalist/scientist. If anything, this broad variety of interests makes our conversations more dynamic. The key element of any friendship, however, is maintaining open lines of communication. My closest friends are people to whom I can comfortably divulge my most private thoughts. Yet friendships also come with a responsibility. Countless times, I have turned to my friends when I am overly stressed or lacking self-confidence and, despite their busy schedules, they sacrifice their time in order to listen and help alleviate my worries. In return, I am always willing to provide counsel and encouragement. Through these means, developing friendships are eventually transformed into tight bonds. Also, considering the fact that we often spend more time with our friends at school than with our parents, it is no surprise that friends have such significant roles in our lives, rivaling that of our parents. The friends one makes in high school are people you want to keep in contact with in the following years. So, I really have no reason to worry. Despite the hundreds of miles between us as we depart to different universities, the distance will not be far enough to break the bonds of friendship we have formed during the past 4 years. Ryan Moy graduates this month from Troy High School in Fullerton.

SEARCH THE SITE