My first-grade teacher once told me that “birds of a feather flock together” so I grew up believing in it until I became a victim of such a saying. For four years, my best friend and I joined the same clubs, took the same classes, and mingled with the same group of friends. As many have told us, we were inseparable.

My best friend is someone who I truly look up to. Within the span of our high-school career, she managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA amidst various hindrances and personal matters that could have easily knocked her down. Appearing with a smile, every day she makes it a goal to be the best version of herself even when she isn’t feeling like the best.

On the other hand, I am more of an introverted extrovert, displaying social anxiety whenever I am put in an uncomfortable situation yet later often being called bubbly by others. I am firm in my thoughts, and believe in expressing myself, happy or not. In this context, my best friend and I are different in various aspects; however, the differences that set us apart only kept us glued together.

Even with the ideal friendship, there is a flaw in staying within the same “flock”. I learned to be content, comfortable in staying on the same path, wishing to achieve goals that are not initially even mine. At the end of four years, my best-friend reached her goal of moving to the east coast and getting accepted into Yale, while I underwent a time of confusion.

I started to search for videos on the topics of success and the inevitability of the future, creating a toxic lifestyle of watching but not doing. I began wondering why; I stayed within the flock, close to people of the “same feather”, why did I not get to soar high like them?

One day, I received an anonymous set of items including a notebook, pocky sticks, and other decorative items. Inside the notebook, there were three pages filled with notes written for me; on one it stated:

“Tu n’es jamais seul” (translated as: you are never alone).

At that moment, I felt a surge of goosebumps, one that I can truly say was the catalyst I needed to realize a simple life lesson. You see, friendship is a funny thing. There is a certain expectation that both of you will reach the set destination at the same time.

Well, it took me four years and a notebook to understand this but: friendship is cheering each other on despite where the other is on their progress of “going”. Birds of the same feathers do not always have to flock together; instead, they can become their own and take flight.

My best friend is going to Yale...and I'm not, but that is all right with me and nothing in this world can ever ruin our friendship.