Coming into my freshman year roughly three years ago, I was just as scared as any middle schooler going into a new school. Aside from the regular stress that school brings, my worries revolved around meeting new people. The one thought that was able to put my mind at ease was the fact that all my friends from middle school would be right by my side.

Currently attacking my senior year, I have noticed that as each year has gone by, I have lost more and more friends. Stress and difficult situations, I’ve noticed, allow people’s true colors to show. I have observed and been a part of drama on numerous occasions and sadly, people who seem perfectly innocent can turn out to have cruel and ill-mannered intentions.

Not all changes in friendships end in tears or even take place in a conversation. As time goes on, staying with the people that make you the happiest come naturally. As we grow older, these are the decisions we need to make in order to shape our character and be who you truly are.

When it comes to summer vacation, staying in touch comes easy and without a second thought for the friends that I enjoy having in my life. When I returned from this past summer, I encountered people I once considered my best friend and the only thing exchanged was a friendly soft smile. I never intended to lose my friends, and thankfully, I have not had a falling out that has left me on bad terms with any people, but sadly there is no fun in losing a friend. Whether it is a fight, growing apart, or simply realizing someone is not who you thought they were, throughout our lives we are going to evolve in our relationships.

I look at the amount of friends I have today and although it may not be many, but they are the people who have stayed by my side. Toxic friends are people in your life that hurt you rather than make your life better. As we go through our lives we find ourselves faced with the difficulty of deciding who is truly a positive aspect in our lives. The friends I have in my life today are in it for a reason.