Our early years are a time of major growth: physically, mentally and personally. I think a lot of growth comes from the people you surround yourself with. I always thought it was cheesy when people would say their friends made them who they are. I’ve since realized this is so true.

I’ve recently been nostalgic and thinking about the people I knew in high school: best friends, enemies and best friends who were secret enemies. High school was interesting. It’s a time in your life where you're trying to figure yourself out, so you don’t think much about how the people around you affect who you are becoming.

My friends chose different paths once we graduated. Some took gap years and did amazing things. Some, like me, went straight to college. Some went far away, like Scotland far, and others stayed in our own backyard. For four years, we were all doing the same old high school thing, but the amazing thing about us was that none of us were the same, and we all brought something different to the table. Each person provided me with a new lesson about growing up (names altered for secrecy).

L

"L" showed me how to break the norm of having to go to college right away. College isn’t for everyone, and while I’m thriving in this environment, I see people every day who were maybe not ready for this big leap. "L" took a gap year and did some pretty great things in South America. She’s now in Europe going to school, and based on pictures I've seen on Facebook, she seems like she’s living a fantasy life. "L" has had some struggles in her life, and while it’s not my place to talk about them, I feel as though I can say she’s overcome so much. "L" has made me realize that no matter what you go through, you can always be happy in the end.

B

"B" was a blessing in disguise. In high school, I was pretty introverted when it came to meeting new people, hell, I was even introverted around people I knew my entire life. "B" was not like that. Every new person she came across was her best friend. Since coming to college, I’ve become more outgoing. I may not be as outgoing as"B," but I’m getting there. She is going to school in Paris, a city that fits her shining personality like a glove. I knew she always wanted to get away from our state, and I could not be more excited to see her killing it abroad. "B" is wild and carefree which made me reevaluate how I have fun. It doesn’t always have to be parties, just so long as you’re with the people that make you happy.

G

"G" has known what she has wanted to do with her life since she practically came out of the womb. She is an amazing singer, actor and dancer - truly a triple threat I would never want to compete with. I’ve heard a lot of negative comments towards her wanting to pursue theatre as a career. People have said that she won’t make money, she won’t succeed and she needs a solid plan to fall back on. Despite this, "G" went to college to study musical theatre, and I could not be proud. In this world, it is so easy to let what people say get to you and affect what you do, but the world never affected "G." She taught me that it’s better to stay true to yourself and what you want then let others control what you do in life.

I was lucky to have such amazing humans in my life. I could have written about eight more people, but I decided not to bore the world. I cannot thank them enough for how they’ve impacted my life and I honestly hope that I was able to help them learn more about themselves.