The Power of Friendship

By Sophia Nguyen

Alejandra Serna, a high schooler in Yerba Buena High School, had three friends in school she hangs out with. Though, when one of them moved out to go to Florida, she only had two friends to hang out with. Her friend recently went to Cali, but they were still in touch. Even though one may be gone, her other two friends can help keep her company. Her friends made her happier and more comfortable and they’re always by her side.

She goes to school almost everyday, making friends and being able to get them to open up to her. When she does that, her friends do the same thing to comfort her from stress. 

“My friends help a lot with the stress of school. During lunch they comfort me when I talk about my problems,” Serna said, “not having anyone to talk to makes me feel really uncomfortable. Mainly because I'm a naturally talkative person.”

Serna was a pretty amazing talker too, she’s good at starting conversations and being able to get her introverted friends to open up. She has a lot of friends, but she usually hangs out with three of them a day.

“One thing I've found helps my introverted friends to open up is bringing up their favorite topics,” she said, “my friends have also mentioned that they naturally felt comfortable with me. I often try to make them talk. Like asking questions until a conversation starts,” she added. 

 So she technically talks to them by bringing up their favorite stuff they like so they’ll get more comfortable with her. Bringing up questions is a smart way to start a conversation. One of her friends moved to Florida, so she only had two friends she hangs out with a day now.

She’s still in touch with that one friend though, they still talk to each other often. That same friend recently moved to California a few days/weeks ago.

 “She was in Cali up until a few days ago and I couldn't see her. So if I could, I would definitely take the opportunity to go visit her,” Serna explained.

 Even though one of her friends recently moved out, she still hangs out with her two other friends regularly. She’s still happy when hanging out with her friends because they go out and hang out all the time. When that friend moved out, she was sad, but it didn’t affect her much. Mainly because they still text and contact each other.

 “We go to the mall, they come to my house, or we also go get boba together. I've even gone to a concert with one of them,” she said. Even though one of her friends moved out, she still hangs out with her friends on a regular basis and she's happy about it. Having two is better than having none. They met in school when Ale first talked to them, she was shy at first but she got the courage and managed to talk to them and became friends.