I recently watched the movie Flipped, which chronicles the life of Bryce, a handsome young boy who unfortunately doesn't know how to see things past himself. Julie baker, a girl in Bryce's class who lives across the street, has developed a crush on him over the years without really knowing much about him. One day when Julie is admiring her father's painting of a charming tree that is planted in the center of the neighborhood, her father offers her some valuable advice that struck a chord with me. Julie's father explains that when the painting is finished, it will all come together and be even more beautiful than what it looks like right now. He then goes ahead to say that people are sometimes less and sometimes more than the sum of their parts. This means, that a person who seems really great to you for one reason, may not actually be that great of a catch when you evaluate their entirety. Julie's father then challenged her to dissect the people in her life, and to come to a conclusion about whether or not these people are so worthy of her praise or friendship. When this scene occurred, I really felt like this was an important message for people to think about and apply to their lives. I am constantly surrounded by so many different types of people with so many different moral compasses. I am far away from home where i've familiarized myself with those I would come into contact with on a daily basis. In college and in future events that will occur later in life, we have to make sure that the right people in our lives are kept around and that we filter out the ones that really aren't right for us. Just because you find a boy attractive doesn't mean you should date him. He should be a good person that has other characteristics to offer. You shouldn't keep a friend around because all you do is gossip and talk about people when you're together, there is no depth to that. Shallow people sometimes can be disguised as "fun" or "a good time", but it's honestly so crucial to know what type of people are present in your life. If you care about being someone who is surrounded by the right influences and you want to be attracted to the right kind of people, you should take on this challenge to examine the people you have in your life. It's hard sometimes to realize if someone really isn't contributing anything positive, and it's even harder to acknowledge the fact that you may be the one that is proving to be the friend that needs to be let go. It's easy to get fooled into thinking someone is right for you, when you aren't looking at the overall picture. Bryce didn't give Julie the time of day, and she was so infatuated by the thought of him. When Julie realized that Bryce may not be deserving of her enchantment, she knew that she had to move on from him. Sometimes we get lucky and we already have incredible people who are good influences in our lives. It also happens to be that we all have come across someone who we thought was right for us, but really at the end of the day wasn't really who he or she presented themselves as. Getting along with someone and matching the same designer bag doesn't equate to real friendship or emotional satisfaction. Every person deserves to be happy and we are fortunate enough to chose amazing people to be a part of our lives. It's important to see the whole landscape at the end of the day, not just part of the painting.