Posts in friendship
before (and after) the fall

As a kid, I always enjoyed exploring the through the woods. Finding deer tracks, building forts, playing hide and go seek —letting all my child adventures and innovations come true. Most of the time, I would have friends come with me and explore the vast forest that surrounded my house. It was all fun and games until people got hurt.

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Little Girl, Big Heart

To me, friendship is embodied by my 4 year old half sister, Mila. Although she is so little, she treats everyone as if they are her best friend. When you walk into my father’s house, the first thing you hear is squealing and little footsteps coming around the corner. Every person that walks into the house is met with her smiling face running towards you, with her arms wide open. Without fail, she greets you with a hug and kiss, no matter who you are. It doesn’t matter if you have met once, or millions of times, she acts the same.

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Winnie the Pooh and Piglet the Friend

As the phone is ringing, I think about the fact that I haven’t seen Stephanie in almost a year. We were best friends for 10 years and then I left the school and we lost touch. I begin to question if it will be uncomfortable spending time with her after all these months. She picks up the phone and we just start talking. And talking. And talking.

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Lifelong Friendship and Support

This spring, my parents decided to finally finish building our bathroom. My parents have been living in our current house for over 19 years, but there has always been an unfinished room. When they were initially building the house, just a few years before I was born, they ran out of money, so they could not finish the second bathroom. I think finally putting this last piece of the house into place means a lot to my parents because it signifies that they have finally finished their project of building a family home. However, my parents are not as young as they once were, so building it takes tremendous effort from their part. Luckily, they get a lot of help.

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Am I Really That Important?

“So, Mr. Kumar, do you know why you’re in here today?” I don’t get why administrators ask rhetorical questions in these situations. How is it going to help? I don’t even know whether Shiv answered that question or not. I do know, however, that he was the only one, out of the eight of them, who was brave in the moment. He wasn’t just putting on a brave face — that’s just masking a face with a lack of fear.

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Closing Distance

Hidden beneath a clutter of folded papers and plastic water bottles, my phone vibrated against the desk. One buzz followed another, each sharp note never failing to make me catch my breath. I was next to my desk on the floor, comfortably molded into a red bean bag.

“Hey, can you pass me my phone?”

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Where There Is Love There Is Life

The lights go on and the Tang Theatre is transformed into the house of Count Dracula. There is a bouquet of roses waiting underneath your chair, and you squeeze the armrest of your seat. A story unravels before you, a story that does not take place at Phillips Academy but somewhere else. The clock has been set a hundred years back. The sounds and colors and characters are all crawling to life when a familiar face blooms on stage. All smile stretches across your face and you want to scream her name although you know you cannot. In that moment she is not your friend, but Miss Lucy, the mistress of Count Dracula.  

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And Time Races On

It was one of those chilly nights just after the middle of winter term when I couldn’t even think about homework until I absolutely had to. I had the evening free and all I wanted was a meal with friends. Since they seemed to share my feeling, a few text messages later we were sitting at a table together talking and laughing and doing our best to take a breath and relax. One girl came late, just as the rest of us were finishing up, and I decided to keep her company while she ate. I could wait thirty more minutes to start my homework.

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