Essay/Term paper: Friendship

Essay, term paper, research paper:  High School Essays

When I think about what makes someone a good friend, I

think about all the characteristics of my own friends. My

personal definition of a friend, is someone who is always

looking out for me, and will help me if I"m in trouble. A

friend has to be someone I trust and who trusts me in

return. Another important characteristic in a friend is

someone who I can talk to, and make me laugh.



One of the most important traits of a friend, is someone

who will help you if you need it. One personal experience I

had with this was when my friends, Mark, Steve, and I we

all out driving around late at night. We were on our way

home from going up to my camp at the lake, it was four in

the morning, and we were all tired. I was driving my car

and we had just gotten off the Northway when I ran over a

glass bottle and my tire popped. I didn"t know what to do.

We had no money, and were stranded. Millions of thoughts

were racing through my mind: what would I tell my mom,

how could we get it fixed, and most importantly how could

I stay out of trouble. My friend Mark called up his brother

to come and tow the car. His actions that night made me

realized that a true friend would takes risks for each other.



A strong friendship also depends upon mutual trust. If you

can"t trust each other then it is impossible to establish a

strong relationship. In the past, I have been able to tell my

friends personal feelings, and know that they would keep

secrets to themselves. One time my friend and I were riding

on my friend James" lawnmower and we hit the side of the

garage. We promised each other that we would take it to

the grave. Even though we should have eventually told

someone, we kept it to ourselves.



Another quality I like to have in a friend, is someone who

can make me laugh. A perfect example of this is my friend

Bob. Some of the comments he would say would be so

outrageous; I couldn"t help but laugh. One time I traveled

to Montreal with my friends, and the entire four-hour drive

I spent laughing. Bob and I sat in the back seat cracking

jokes the whole time. This is important because it is good

to know that regardless of the mood, or situation I"m in, a

good friend can make me laugh.



When I asked other students their thought on friendship, I

noticed that my opinion was similar to others. Everyone

was drawn to people who they can just talk to for awhile

and not become sick of, or bored with. A lot of people

thought that someone who will stand up for you makes an

excellent friend. I agreed with most of the responses I was

getting from my friends and family. My friend Mike said

"someone who has a lot in common with you." Mike also

told me about an instance when he met someone

snowboarding at a mountain and instantly became friends

with him. Mike and his friend went snowboarding every

chance they could get. To this day they still go

snowboarding together every season. Even though it does

help if you have a lot in common, I don"t feel that common

interests are very important. One of my closest friends,

Steve, is the complete opposite of me. Regardless, we still

can just talk about random things and we both have a good

time. I will talk about my interests, and he will talk about

things he is interested in. Now that we have been friends

for so long, we have drawn each other to our opposite past

times.



My friend Dan replied to the above question with "[a friend

is] someone who is loyal to you and respects you." I had

never thought about how important respect was to a

friendship; it is clearly one of the most important qualities. If

someone respects you that means they genuinely think you

are a good person, and to me that is very important.



Based on my own personal experience and asking my

peers questions, I was shown new qualities in friends that I

don"t usually look for. I compared these qualities to ones I

look for in a friend. I came to the conclusion that a good

friend is someone who has the same feelings on what

makes a good friend as you do.