My mom recently visited me for the Penn State vs. Michigan game. Since we live in California, she only gets the opportunity to visit once a semester, so we always try to make the most of our time together.
Here, I live in a house with eleven of my close friends. When my mom came to visit, she treated us all to dinner. My friends went out of their way to thank her more than once. At the end of the night, my mom pulled me aside to comment on how polite my friends were and how nice they seemed.
While my mom was taken aback, I wasn’t surprised at all.
After getting to know these girls over the last four years, I can say with confidence that they are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Not only are they good people, but they’re also hard workers in everything they do.
As a senior, I get to watch my friends receive job offers, get accepted into their dream grad schools and witness their hard work pay off. Any time something exciting happens to me, whether it involves school or my personal life, it seems like my friends are even happier than I am. And any time something bad happens to me, they’re always there.
Within the first week of school this year, I went through a break-up. It was a serious relationship that had lasted over two and a half years, so the second it happened my friends dropped everything to be with me.
They all crowded onto my bed with my best friend from home on speakerphone and listened to me talk for hours. My friends Julianna and Maddie didn’t leave my side once that whole night and even sent my mom texts with updates on how I was doing.
I don’t know how I would have gotten through the break-up if it weren’t for those girls. It made me realize how lucky I am to have such a solid support system.
My friends have shown me time and time again that they’re good friends, but I think the most important thing about them is they’re all good people.
Whenever someone needs a ride somewhere or needs help with schoolwork, my friends are the first to volunteer to help. They help people who aren’t their friends too, through THON and other charitable organizations.
They never ask for anything in return or for any recognition when they go above and beyond.
And they always treat everyone they meet with respect.
I believe if you surround yourself with toxic friendships, then the negative aspects of those relationships will eventually rub off on you. But if you surround yourself with ambitious and supportive people who have good intentions at heart, they’re going to encourage you to succeed.
I believe who you surround yourself with reflects the person you strive to be.
I can genuinely say every single one of my close friends is a good person, and each day they help me become a better version of myself.
Essayist Taylor Mason-Little interned at WPSU last semester.
