Friendships: Building Bonds that Last
Our friend group is very close. I’m normally not a person to miss people, not because I don’t care about people, but because it just never crosses my mind. When it comes to our friend group, I always miss them.
Our friend group consists of Jeniffer Cruz Dabrowska (Jen), Omolola Ayedun (Omo), Crystal Cabreja, Briana Chavez (Bria), and Emily Azcue. In this article, we would like to go back in time to write about how our friendship all started leading up to the present. During our article, we would also include memorable and humorous moments from all the years we’ve been together.
At first, Briana wasn’t sure if she wanted friends considering how, during 9th grade, she was struggling in many ways. Even in her advisory, she didn’t socialize much with others; however, during advisory, when people were assigned study groups, she managed to get to know Crystal and Emily better by talking to them and sharing each other's interests. Afterwards, their friendship grew, and so did the size of the group.
Originally, Jeniffer also hadn’t had any thoughts about making friends or having the idea of talking to others. She never spoke as much as others and kept to herself. Since the majority of 9th graders were online, there was no reason for her to go and contact others. Eventually, when school became in person, there were very few interactions with others, just not enough to consider them close. A gaming club was launched during her 9th grade year, which she became a member of. Again, just like starting school in person, she had few interactions yet never felt as close to anyone.
We all grew closer in 10th grade, especially since we were in person. While having lunch together, we would talk and have enjoyable chats as we got to know one another better. Towards the end of 10th grade, there was a college trip that was 3 days and 2 nights, and it included Briana, Jeniffer, and Emily. Staying up at night, watching TV in the hotel rooms, Briana and Emily practicing for their upcoming dance show after the college trip was over, taking the soaps, shampoos, and conditioner that were provided in the room’s bathroom, trying to get water late at night, and getting in trouble by Mr. Brooks, Jen playing games mostly all night, Briana meeting her now boyfriend, and more were all fun memories that made our entire year!
12th grade was one of the funniest years we have ever had.
Crystal, Jen, Omolola, Briana, and Sam (in the background spectating) were playing Gartic Phone, and it was the funniest round ever. It was so funny that Briana was laughing and crying, and her eyeliner came off. That wasn’t the only instance where that happened. During CSH day, Crystal kept making a lot of jokes and made Briana cry her eyeliner off. Ever since those instances, Briana has had to buy waterproof eyeliner and mascara.
We decided to ask everyone in our group chat: How would we describe our friend group to others?
Crystal said: “Chaotic, always fun and funny. We also don’t judge one another”
Jeniffer said: “Our friend group is very close. I’m normally not a person to miss people, not because I don’t care about people, but because it just never crosses my mind. When it comes to our friend group, I always miss them, so it is especially special that I am excited to finally see each other when the time comes. They will all be something that crosses my mind, always thinking about the time we’ve spent together. I will never stop thinking about them.”
Briana said: “I would say that our friend group is close and very humorous. I personally feel like hanging out with each other outside of school makes the bond stronger.”
Omolola said: “I would say we are very engaging, even outside of school.”
Emily said: “I would describe our friend group as funny and unique because we all have different interests but all get along really well and all know how to communicate well with each other. I feel like over the years our friend group has gotten closer and understands each other better. I am truly thankful for our friend group.”
The best interaction we had with each other in school was hosting the bake sale. 10th grade was the first bake sale we have ever hosted, and it was actually the first bake sale in the entire school. You can say we paved the way for all the current bake sales in the school. The amount of planning and many thoughtful conversations with each other really made or break the bake sale. The first bake sale was a huge success, as were the following bake sales.
After school hours, Briana, Crystal, Jen, and Omolola would hang out and do so many fun things together. Recently, they all went to buy pizza, were trying to find a place to eat, and ultimately decided to eat at the side entrance of the school building. Then realizing that Omolola messed up the pizza box, and when she opened it, there was cheese everywhere.
As they were walking back to the school, we saw Stuffie, a stray cat they've met before, whether it’s walking to school or leaving school. She was behind trash bins at a residence, sleeping. Every time we see Stuffie, we make sure she has food to eat, so we went to the deli and bought her cat food. When they came back, as soon as they opened the can, Stuffie woke up and started meowing at them. The gravy-flavored cat food seemed to be her favorite, for she ate it really quickly.
Recently, Crystal, Bri, Jen, and Omolola made slime during study hall. Briana's slime kept melting on her hand and Crystal had to help her, Jen putting too much detergent, and Omolola was making a ‘slime soup.’ A few weeks later, Jen showed them their slime on Discord, and they all said that her slime had shrunk, and then afterwards, Crystal noticed her slime had shrunk as well and was blaming Jen.
While it was Jens birthday (Jan 13!!) Omolola made a funny poster and Bri, Crystal, and Omo signed it. It was very humorous handing it to Jen and it was nice seeing the room fill with laughter and warm smiles.
During Midwinter Break, Briana, Jen, Crystal, and Sam had planned to go out. We went to bookstores, especially since Crystal wanted to for an AP Lit assignment. She decided to invite us to go with her, and we all gladly accepted. We all decided to meet up at the school around 9 a.m., and on the first day, Jen had overslept by accident, and Crystal had to call her. When everyone had finally arrived, we had breakfast at McDonalds, and then we went to multiple bookstores. Everytime we arrived at a bookstore, Crystal would take photos of her book in front of the bookstore and then we would go inside. In the end, Jen and Crystal bought some books while Briana bought a pink sparkly highlighter.
Since it was Crystal's birthday the next day, we went again to Manhattan. This time we had breakfast at a cat cafe. There were so many cute cats playing, some even sleeping. We weren’t really able to get to play or go in the room full of cats since in order to do so, you would have to make reservations, but we still enjoyed watching them. We all then went to the ferry. Briana, Sam, Crystal, and Jen were at the end of the ferry where you can see the ocean and all the other boats.