When I think about friends who have inspired or made me into a better person, two friends immediately come to mind. Both went to the same school as me from primary to secondary school. Though they both influenced me in different ways.
My first friend went to the same primary and secondary school as me but it wasn’t until secondary school that we became close. Before that we had close to no contact at all. We both ended up in the same class as we had similar grades. But while our academic performance were about the same, what made her different from me was her drive to succeed. I watched her as she planned her future. She always seemed sure of where she wanted to go. She had her goals and she did her best to achieve them. Once she sets her mind to do something, she commits to it fully. This driven mindset was consistently present with her.
As someone who struggles to commit to hard work I found her very inspiring and admirable. I still remember, back when she was a matriculation student, she told me she wanted to study in Australia because there was a programme that offered to send excellent matriculation students to study abroad. Later on, she actually achieved this goal. She’s currently studying at The University Of Queensland in Australia and she made me realize that big dreams can become true if you work hard and plan for it. All throughout our school years we’re usually told to dream big, but once school ends we limit ourselves with reality. Our dreams suddenly become very limited. So watching her made me feel like my ambitions from my school years were rekindling again and I was inspired to do my very best in my studies so that I won’t have any regrets in the future.
In contrast, my second friend made me a better person through the experience that I went through while befriending her. This friend had also gone to the same primary and secondary school as me but we were already close since primary school. When we managed to get into the same class in secondary school, we became even closer. She was a fun person to be around but she started showing a possessive streak towards me. She got angry as soon as I spoke to someone else and when she got angry, which she did often, I would have to apologize to her repeatedly. It didn’t matter if I didn’t do anything wrong, I had to apologize to her because she would’ve never given in. Apologizing to her also took a while. It took repeated apologies several times a day all the while she ignored and shoved me away.
Because I couldn’t speak to anyone else other than some people in our friend group, I was practically disconnected from the rest of the class and I grew dependant of her because if I didn’t have her, I didn’t have anyone. At the worst points of our friendship, I hated her and wanted to break free but I also understood her to an extent. She was insecure and she felt like she didn’t get enough attention at home so in a way she wanted to monopolize me. The story between me and her is a long one. She did a lot of things that made me feel awful and we gradually drifted apart. In the later years of secondary school, when we bumped into each other, I could tell that she felt guilty towards me and she had jokingly acknowledged one time how bad she had been to me. I think in a way she wanted to apologize but felt to awkward to do it. My experience with her shaped me to become a more patient and understanding person. If I had never experienced my friendship with her, I don’t think I would be the person I am today. So in a way she made me a better person.
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