coming together

By Ruby F

During the early days of quarantine, it was hard for all of us, whether it be with school, friends, or mental health. For freshman Kayla Banh, this was just the case.

During elementary school, Banh found herself struggling with getting in work and making friends. She said, “I would meet with teachers after school, mostly for them to help me with my work. I didn't have many friends during elementary so even though it was school work, it still helped.”

After moving on from elementary school, things started to get a little rough before it got better.

She explained, “So around the quarantine time, I had no motivation to get up in the morning so I usually just slept through all my classes, but after I met my friends, I thought more about the future.”

Banh told me more about how her friends were also not in the best place either, which connected them more.

Banh said, “Back in middle school, we were all having difficulties turning in assignments, and we just kind of vented our frustrations out with each other. It made us all feel like it wasn't just us struggling.”

This explains how it was difficult turning in and getting work done, but that's where she found similarities between her and fellow peers.

This made me think, what makes a good friend? She shared that a good friend truly understands and knows when to take things seriously.

Banh shared that her friends “always look out for each other, which I think is nice.”

I also got curious about how they all met. I asked her, “What first started this friendship between you all?”

She responded, “Around the time we were all going to CCA, there was a Discord server for the people who went to the school and so when I joined, there were little Among Us games going on. So when I joined anonymously, I really enjoyed it and kept playing, and soon met them.”

But just as fast as it came, Banh was going to graduate from middle school. From all that I have been told, with her friends I wanted to ask one more thing. I asked, “What do you think identified you during that time?”

“The people that have been around me. If it wasn't for them, I don't think I would've made it in a way,” Banh said.