Choosing my friends wisely
I will always remember the first piece of advice I ever received from my grandpa at the young age of seven years old. My grandpa was a businessman, so I always heard him talking to my parents and older brother about stuff I honestly didn’t care about as a little girl. He would talk about an interesting article he read in the paper that week, a story he saw on the news, or some type of lecture, but I never gave much thought to any of them. It wasn’t until I was just about ready to start my first week of first grade that I was given my first lecture. As I was giving my grandma and grandpa a hug and kiss goodbye, my grandpa called me over to wish me good luck on my first week at “big girl” school. Little did I know I’d remember the entire conversation from that day onward. I was expecting to walk over and receive a big lecture that I didn’t even understand as a seven year old. To my surprise, my grandpa had four words for me “choose your friends wisely.” He gave me a kiss and I ran off to try and get the front seat in the car before my brother.
As I grew up, my grandpa’s advice became more and more clear to me. I developed the understanding that if I surrounded myself with positive people, they would positively influence me, and vice versa in the negative aspect. Through elementary and middle school years, friendships came and went, while others stayed. My freshman year of high school I discovered who my real friends were and who I wanted to surround myself with. I developed friendships with people who had the same goals as me and shared the same interests. I sometimes took a minute or two throughout my day and thought about the type of friends I had, if I was following my grandpa’s advice. Just a few of the words that came to mind were loving, caring, helpful, smart, fun, and optimistic. These were the exact words that I liked to associate myself with. I also would take a few minutes to observe other friendships around me, and some I saw in the other spectrum. Individuals were making unhealthy decisions and their friends were following. I quickly made the connections just as my grandpa had wanted me to do.
I truly believe that the people you surround yourself with has a great impact on who you are as a person. My goal in life is to be proud of who I am and the decisions I am making. I didn’t realize as a little girl that four simple words could have such an impact on my life, but there’s no doubt they have. Now as a freshman in college, I make new friends every day, and I can honestly say I’d be more than willing to bring them home to meet my grandpa.
As I grew up, my grandpa’s advice became more and more clear to me. I developed the understanding that if I surrounded myself with positive people, they would positively influence me, and vice versa in the negative aspect. Through elementary and middle school years, friendships came and went, while others stayed. My freshman year of high school I discovered who my real friends were and who I wanted to surround myself with. I developed friendships with people who had the same goals as me and shared the same interests. I sometimes took a minute or two throughout my day and thought about the type of friends I had, if I was following my grandpa’s advice. Just a few of the words that came to mind were loving, caring, helpful, smart, fun, and optimistic. These were the exact words that I liked to associate myself with. I also would take a few minutes to observe other friendships around me, and some I saw in the other spectrum. Individuals were making unhealthy decisions and their friends were following. I quickly made the connections just as my grandpa had wanted me to do.
I truly believe that the people you surround yourself with has a great impact on who you are as a person. My goal in life is to be proud of who I am and the decisions I am making. I didn’t realize as a little girl that four simple words could have such an impact on my life, but there’s no doubt they have. Now as a freshman in college, I make new friends every day, and I can honestly say I’d be more than willing to bring them home to meet my grandpa.