Many people tend to hang out with people their own age. Me? I hang out with people my own age, but also with someone almost six years younger than me. Some people may ask why a twenty-year-old would want to hang out with someone who just turned fifteen and there are many reasons, more than just these six.

1. The main reason is that she makes me smile.

The way she eats a hoagie eating all the toppings first and then going to the meat (she eats it going across like an ear of corn). She also is so smart and has so many random facts. We will just be driving down the road and she will casually turn down the music, tell me a weird fact, then turn up the music again. Like did you know you can’t imagine a new color?

2. She always has a positive outlook.

High school, college, and society have not corrupted her yet. She still sees the world as a good place and reminds me to do the same thing. She is always reading and reminds me to imagine myself in a book. There is usually a happy ending in books, so she reminds me to think of the world that way.

3. Keeps me young.

She reminds me to always want to go on the swing. Going to concerts with her is so much fun because she has so much fun. Kids my age go to concerts too, but seeing her face light up when the singers come onto the stage is different from 20-year-olds. She gets so much enjoyment out of making all the memories because they last a lifetime.

4. She teaches me.

Kids my age all know the same stuff. She is always helpful when I see something I do not know. New slang is always getting made up and she tells me what it all means. She is basically my personal dictionary.

5. She teaches me to dream big.

Whenever we drive past nice houses together, she always imagines herself living there. Even if she is only 15 and a long way from buying a house, she knows what she wants. She wants a big house with a balcony so she can wake up and see all the people (or in her words “the peasants”).

6. She teaches me to work hard.

She is so smart. She is always studying and reading (when she is not concussed). She works so hard to be a student-athlete. I was never an athlete because I do not like to sweat. Even if I am not a student-athlete, she inspires me to want to work as hard as she does.

She may be almost six years younger than me, but she is great. Age really does not matter. I do hang out with people my own age, but why stop a friendship over something so meaningless. Whenever I pick her up from school, I have the best day with her. Obviously, it is important to surround yourself with people your own age but if you get the opportunity to befriend someone who might be a little younger than you, do not pull back because of age. There are so many things you would be missing out on if you did.