friends

Most of my life, I had friends. Growing up in Uruguay, I attended the same high school (Colegio Ingles) from ages 5 to 15, and by the time I was mentally conscious, I was already part of a big group of friends. I never really gave much thought to how I made those friends; it was almost as if they were always there. Whenever I needed support or anything, I could rely on them. At age 15, I switched high schools to Juan XXIII but did so with a few great friends, so even though I didn’t know most of the people there, I still had 3-4 close friends. At that high school, I had my first big conscious experience of how to make a new group of friends. But it happened very naturally since I was already very close with some people, so I never really thought about it.

At age 17, I decided I wanted to go study in America. The next year, I found myself alone in California. What a crazy experience… Being in a different country where you don’t know anyone is insane. I’d never felt as lonely as I did during those first few months. Starting from nothing, without knowing anyone, makes it so much harder. Sure, it’s college, and I was a freshman, and everyone is open, but I didn’t have any really good friend to rely on when I needed that. Plus, it takes some time to make great friends. As time passed, things started falling into place, and even though it wasn’t fast, I made some great friends. But that was probably one of the biggest lessons of college; it just made me realize the importance of all my friends, and it really made me appreciate them so much more. It truly is the case that you only realize how much you value something once you don’t have it.

I’ve noticed over time that there are some aspects that really helped me in making friends:

• Becoming great friends with someone who has a great group of friends. This is probably the easiest way to make friends, since you can potentially become friends with all of them.
• Being stuck in a place with the same people for a long time. This worked great for me in high school, since I was with the same people in my class for at least a year, so sooner or later, I ended up becoming great friends with someone.
• Being in a place where everyone is new, like in college.
• Living/traveling with other people. This is make-or-break, I think; either you become great friends, or you end up not liking each other, but my own experiences here have been great.

Obviously, there is no recipe to make great friends, and it also depends a lot on luck. Thinking back on the different stages of my life, though, I realize I was the happiest whenever I had great friends by my side. The moments where I was starting over without knowing many people were never comfortable.

Anyway, this was me rambling, but it just is a tribute to all my friends. I really appreciate you all! :)