9 Important Things I Learned From my Beloved Classmates
Quan: People can have so much to their personality and be such cool people, but you wouldn’t know that unless you put in the effort and take initiative.
Mel: Following along with the above, we constantly hear things like ‘don’t ever force anything’ on the media, but you have to remember that by doing things one or two times you can’t expect much to happen, so you want to insist, but not get to the point where you’re forcing something either. If it weren’t for his input and effort, especially in the beginning, we would’ve never become close.
Mel: You can be entertaining on your own and it may take a little bit of practice. Most people would prefer hanging out in a group than hanging out with one person because by default a group is more interesting than one person.
Mel was the exception to that. It was things like his unexpectedness, his energy, and the way he spiced things up that made him entertaining on his own. I copied his example and look at me now hee-hee.
Jadon: You need to be insensitive sometimes. If someone’s a bad person to you or hurting you, there’s no point in feeling bad if you decide to leave the relationship. Also, caring too much for people can cause unnecessary problems.
Jayson: Following along with the above, I over-thought things sometimes and he would tell me things like just do it it’s not a big deal because they really are simple. He taught me that I shouldn’t be making things harder for myself.
Donique: Being transparent is the best way to go about any situation. At the beginning of freshman year, I told him everything, and I mean everything, especially when it came to conflicts.
I realized that being transparent lets others know exactly where you’re coming from, and why you’re doing the things you’re doing, and overall helps to understand the whole thing. So there won’t be a need to address something a second time.
Amari: There were so many people that I automatically assumed I’d never be able to talk to, be able to get along with, or have any chemistry with. He didn’t have that. No matter how the person looked, talked, or acted, he showed love to everyone and that’s why he was likable.
Jason: I was in the weight room STRUGGLING to bring myself to do my exercises. He told me, "Kendrah, sometimes you just have to stop thinking and just do. Just hurry and force yourself really hard to do it because if not, your brain pulls you back." I think about him saying this to me every time I feel stuck.
Jailen + Donique: Be a step ahead. These 2 would always trick me and play games. Aside from eventually catching on, I learned to be mindful of patterns I saw in people (whether it be the general population or specific people’s habits) and that way and that way I’d stay one step ahead.
Kermani: There were always things that everyone would think, but that only he expressed out loud. That added to his humor and his interesting personality. That also made it easy for people to connect to him because he uncovered real human feelings.
I referenced his example in my self-improvement journey when it came to being honest regardless of influences.
