My Darlington Story: 'Surround Yourself With Friends That Encourage You'

High school is already hard; do not make it harder being around people who don’t bring you up. When I first arrived at Darlington, my initial thought was "Oh my gosh, I’m in high school now. I need to have so many friends. Like whoa!” (The language I use has been vastly improved -- props to Mrs. Wilson.)

I will not deny I had many friends my freshman year, but they were not all people that I needed in my life. My old school was significantly smaller, and it was always encouraged to be friends with everyone because these are the only people that you are surrounded by and they are all that you have. It didn't matter how they treated you; they were among the 15 people in your entire grade, so you had to be their friend.

But Darlington was different. Rather than encouraging any and every relationship that I could possibly have, I felt encouraged to make friendships that count. And now I have. Surrounding myself with people I enjoy has made my high school experience so much better, and I honestly have to thank Darlington for that.

So people reading this, surround yourself with friends that encourage you, are there for you when you cry or are stressed, will laugh at you when you do stupid things then help you up eventually, push you to reach your full potential, and who you occasionally want to strangle (it can’t be real friendship if you don’t ever have any struggle!) 

Also, take advantage of the experiences Darlington can give you -- even in college you may not be in a class with people from all over the world. If they don’t intrigue you, that’s fine, but talk to people -- having too many friends and no friends is equally hard on the high school experience. One of my best friends is from the Bahamas, and another from South Korea -- how many people you meet on the street can say that?

This anecdote has lacked a central focus, but in summary I want you (yes you, all of you old and young) to analyze who you are involved with, and see if you enjoy who you are when you are with them, and how you feel when you are with them. I want to thank Darlington for encouraging friendships that actually mean something, and my friends for meaning something to me.