Finding Good Friends by: Dawson Unger

Finding friends has never been an easy thing for me since I moved to Northern Virginia in fifth grade.  After I moved I became the shyest kid ever, I lost all my self-confidence, and felt so looked over.  This was the way it was until about half way into my freshman year.  That’s when I found my first ever real friend group.  We all were very different, but all the same in some way.  The issue with the group I found is that they were all seniors or juniors, and my two best friends in this group (brothers) were moving back to California the second week of summer.  As soon as I found out I decided that we would all live up the time while they were still here.  We explored abandoned houses, had jam sessions, and would go on nighttime walks together.

Those two brothers changed me as a person in one of the best ways I could imagine.  They gave me a good reason to come to school each day, and made me feel involved.  I don’t fit in very well with my grade, so this gave me an outlet to listen to my music with, and they were all very understanding when I was having mental breakdowns, or going through something.  That relationship is vital for everyone to have.  There is too much stress in this world for someone not to have anyone to talk to. 

After they left I felt alone, I went through about one full month of summer skating alone, and listening to music alone in my bedroom, usually on the verge of a mental breakdown.  I remember halfway through the summer I found this one girl; at this point I was still awkward around new friends.  I hung out with her about five times before I even thought to take us to the next level.  We went through bad times, along with most of my summer friends.  But unlike most of my summer friends, we ended up as each other’s best friends, and she honestly gives me a reason to come to school now, and get up in the morning.  She manages to yell my music at the top of her lungs with me, and laughs at my corny jokes.

Since then I became really close friends with a fellow #bowtieboy, Kellen Pluntke, me and kellen became friends once we came to the first day of school and were in the same chemistry class.  After that we just started talking more, up until NCTE when we sat together on the plane, after that we basically spent the entire time at the conference together.  At this point Kellen and me hang out as much as possible and I feel like we could talk to each other about anything. 

These relationships among friends are necessary in life and are what get me through day to day.  Without these friends I don’t know if I could manage to do all that I do, and they make me feel very involved and we always just make each other laugh.  These people have changed me into a much better and more fun person, without having to change “Me” and I love them all for that.