Have you ever looked at your group of friends and wondered how you all met? Have you reflected on why exactly you made friends with this group of people?

I’ve done so on numerous occasions and it always leads back to the idea that they all serve as branches of who I am.

You usually pick your friends based on whether or not you like them and you never really take the time to understand why you like that person. My friend circle is pretty small. I’ve known from a young age that I don’t require much in order to be content. I don’t need to have more friends than I can count because then that could lead to unnecessary drama that I would rather do without. (I would include a picture of all my friends but that requires so much extra work that would turn into a fail.)

I’ve written this down in past journals and I’ve brought it up in conversations. Especially a recent one with one of my best friends. I told her that throughout middle and high school, even college, that the people I form friendships with represent me in some way, shape, or form.

I have Camryn who has been my best friend for over 10 years and we’re pretty similar when it comes to opinions, tastes, music, etc. We just get each other. We’re really weird but we click.

I have another best friend, Bre. Since we were little everyone had told us that we appeared as sisters. My mom was the reason she and I were placed together. She’s the other goofy part of me along with the one who’s pretty much up for anything.

Then I have Dayzha. When we were in middle school, she was the voice that I didn’t have for myself. I could be aggressive when I really needed to be, but she was always ready to stand up for what she believed in and defended her friends. There was an instance where this girl I didn’t even know started saying nasty things about me on my Instagram. While I was unaware of what was going on (I didn’t have access to wifi) she was in the comments throwing virtual hands.

So when I came to college and met Riki, Wynter, Jourdan, and Yvonne, it was another sprout of branches.

With Riki I’m learning to embrace my dramatics and I’m learning to love myself more. We share the same sense of humor and we joke about topics others wouldn’t find funny. We joke about the death of our loved ones. Whenever one of us starts acting really goofy and we can’t take the cramps from laughing we would tell each other to go to hell or to just leave the whole residence.

Wynter and Jourdan are my other weird friends. I don’t talk to them alot, but I do miss our random trips to Cookout. We would talk mainly about Animal Science and then it would lead into our personal lives.

Yvonne I met this year. She’s a bit hard to describe. I’ve told her she’s my spirit animal. She’s one of my friends who actually gets her work done and sees some of it as a challenge due to her competitiveness. She’s just as overly weird as I am and laughs when I show her how deep my Dragon Ball obsession goes. This little friendship we got going on is an adventure that I’m glad I hopped on.

Although not everything my friends do represent who I am, they are bits of me that I’ve noticed show their face from time to time. I’ve picked up on phrases they use and sometimes their behavior. If I could only pick up on Riki’s and Yvonne’s ability to get my work done on time then life would be so much easier!