4 Reasons Why You Should Have Friends

4 Reasons Why You Should Have Friends

Friendship can be a road full of mutual benefits
Lourdes Melissa Cail
Lourdes Melissa Cail Sep 26, 2016
511
views

Most people make friends that are irreplaceable throughout the course of their lives. Although not all friends are able to stay in the picture as long as you might want them to, they are significant and can benefit your life.

1. A friend's influence has an effect on you.

This being said, when maintaining a friendship, make sure that the other person is not influencing you in a negative way. Keep a friend that cares about your well-being, supports you in what you do, and always wants the best for you. The saying "who you surround yourself with is who you become" is evidently true.

2. You can make more friends through other friends.

There's nothing wrong with having more friends in your social circle. These new friends can potentially make a positive impact on your life in one way or another. If you need a favor one day, and your immediate family and friends are busy, you can always call up another friend. If they like you a lot, they more than likely be willing to lend a helping hand. Also, when other friendships end for whatever reason, you can always have other people to talk to in case you need advice.

3. Loneliness can be hard to deal with.

If you ever plan on moving to a new city or town, consider making friends to make the experience easier. If you are not going through a change in your life to make you feel lonely but you just do, know there's always someone who can make you forget about your loneliness. Constantly feelings of loneliness can actually be a burden to your mental health. Venting to a friend can put your mind at ease. Also, if you're going through something your parents would not understand, then a friend is the perfect person to go to. Being with a friend in general can bring so much joy and laughs to help you feel better.

4. You learn how to be a good friend too.

I always feel grateful knowing my friends are always there for me. That is why in return I try help them as much as I can in the ways they help me. It's the best feeling in the world to know you've made someone else happy. If you know your friend is not having a good day, then be there to make them smile and to make their day turn around.

Cover Image Credit: Huffington Post
Lourdes Melissa Cail
Lourdes Melissa Cail Sep 26, 2016
At University of Texas El Paso

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An Open Letter to the Person Who Still Uses the "R Word"

Your negative associations are slowly poisoning the true meaning of an incredibly beautiful, exclusive word.
Kaitlin Murray
Kaitlin Murray Mar 15, 2016
231834
views

What do you mean you didn't “mean it like that?" You said it.

People don't say things just for the hell of it. It has one definition. Merriam-Webster defines it as, "To be less advanced in mental, physical or social development than is usual for one's age."

So, when you were “retarded drunk" this past weekend, as you claim, were you diagnosed with a physical or mental disability?

When you called your friend “retarded," did you realize that you were actually falsely labeling them as handicapped?

Don't correct yourself with words like “stupid," “dumb," or “ignorant." when I call you out. Sharpen your vocabulary a little more and broaden your horizons, because I promise you that if people with disabilities could banish that word forever, they would.

Especially when people associate it with drunks, bad decisions, idiotic statements, their enemies and other meaningless issues. Oh trust me, they are way more than that.

I'm not quite sure if you have had your eyes opened as to what a disabled person is capable of, but let me go ahead and lay it out there for you. My best friend has Down Syndrome, and when I tell people that their initial reaction is, “Oh that is so nice of you! You are so selfless to hang out with her."

Well, thanks for the compliment, but she is a person. A living, breathing, normal girl who has feelings, friends, thousands of abilities, knowledge, and compassion out the wazoo.

She listens better than anyone I know, she gets more excited to see me than anyone I know, and she works harder at her hobbies, school, work, and sports than anyone I know. She attends a private school, is a member of the swim team, has won multiple events in the Special Olympics, is in the school choir, and could quite possibly be the most popular girl at her school!

So yes, I would love to take your compliment, but please realize that most people who are labeled as “disabled" are actually more “able" than normal people. I hang out with her because she is one of the people who has so effortlessly taught me simplicity, gratitude, strength, faith, passion, love, genuine happiness and so much more.

Speaking for the people who cannot defend themselves: choose a new word.

The trend has gone out of style, just like smoking cigarettes or not wearing your seat belt. It is poisonous, it is ignorant, and it is low class.

As I explained above, most people with disabilities are actually more capable than a normal human because of their advantageous ways of making peoples' days and unknowingly changing lives. Hang out with a handicapped person, even if it is just for a day. I can one hundred percent guarantee you will bite your tongue next time you go to use the term out of context.

Hopefully you at least think of my friend, who in my book is a hero, a champion and an overcomer. Don't use the “R Word". You are way too good for that. Stand up and correct someone today.

Cover Image Credit: Kaitlin Murray
Kaitlin Murray
Kaitlin Murray Mar 15, 2016
At Bellarmine University

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Dear America, We Can Step Forward As A Country If We Stop Believing That Only One Belief Is Valid

It's time to promote unity and emphasize our commonalities because only through unity can we step forward as a country.

Shanru Xu
Shanru Xu Jan 22, 2019
117
views

Dear America,

2018 was a year of political strife and conflict. The left and the right fought constantly. Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the tiniest mistakes, and there were only a small number of successful bipartisan deals. Politicians and citizens alike seemed more concerned with sticking to party platforms, even ones they truly didn't believe in, rather than compromising with the other side to improve our society.Yet all this name-calling and hatred — what does it do in the end? What does it accomplish?

We've only seen an increased polarization of American politics and an expanded hostility towards "the other side." We don't consider the well-being of each and every person in America and the bettering of our society, or the building of a stronger world for our children and grandchildren.

We spend so much time insulting each other's political beliefs that we forget probably the most important fact that links us all together: We are all human. We all share the same basic needs, the same struggles, the same moments of happiness and sadness.

And yet we are willing to put our similarities aside and only focus on our differences. We are willing to thrust ourselves into the deep anger and loathing that comes in attacking those different from us. We are willing to parry insults behind the safety of a phone screen and forget all about what makes us alike. And we are willing to gloss over the fact that we have more similarities than differences.

SEE ALSO: Dear Trump, Thanks For Transforming Me Into A Responsible, Educated Citizen

Yes, political beliefs make a person. Political beliefs define the values, ideas and thoughts of a person. But sometimes, we have to reach over those beliefs, as hard as that may be, and focus on the bigger picture at hand. What will insulting someone because of those beliefs do? It definitely won't change their views or make them see things from your point of view.

It's sad and frustrating that this endless fighting doesn't even occur between two countries or two governments or two nation-states. Instead, we see arguments and strife between two family members, two neighbors or even two strangers, all living in the same community and under the same government, all sharing more similarities than differences.

We need to stop focusing so much on singular ideas. We need to stop believing in the close-minded idea that only one thought is the best thought. And instead of wasting energy trying to change other's opinions, we need to use that energy and time to promote unity and emphasize our commonalities.

These past few years have truly divided America. Let's make 2019 a year of unity, because only through unity can we step forward as a country.

Shanru Xu
Shanru Xu Jan 22, 2019
At Alpharetta, Georgia

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