It began in photography class. I recall the teacher saying, “Pick a partner and I’ll teach you how to use a camera.” Looking around the room I realized that I knew nobody. The girl next to me was named Nicki, we looked at each other with a moment of awkward silence. She asked, “Would you like to be my partner?” Unsure I said “Yeah?”

I was sixteen years old and just becoming a junior in high school. I was pretty pessimistic for the most part. Life at the moment was challenging, but that changed when I met two people who became my closest friends. I met them at the beginning of junior year through “good” accidents. The two people I met were Nicki and Alix.

Nicki has black hair that runs down her shoulders and a presence that can bring you happiness. She is Khmer and Chinese. She is kind, introverted, a little self-conscious, and very strong. In many ways I felt like she was just like me. We became friends taking pictures. In class, we were sent outside to take photos - we took modeling shots, landscapes, and freelance. This required partnership, not my type of thing, but I went with it. We would give each other ideas or help each other with our photos because sometimes we would be blank on what photos to take. The first few weeks she was just a class partner, but I don’t know how to explain it, but we started talking more. She was my class partner, but soon she became my best friend. I’d often model for her photos. We had conversations about how life was going for each of us, we both suffered from being pessimistic, and we both tried to be more optimistic together. Most of my other friends, I didn’t get too personal with them, many of them are focused on what’s outside their mind than inside their mind. Nicki was very different then my other friends. She taught me that you shouldn’t be harsh on yourself and overcomplicate issues.

A week after I met Nicki, I met Alix in my English class. Alix is Puerto Rican with brown hair with faint blonde streaks. Her kindness radiates off her and she has a smile that lights up an entire room.

We had three classes together, but we never talked. In English she sat directly across from me and she talked with one of my friends, but not with me. The teacher forced us to pick partners for a project and said “look for someone across the room.” I was nervous, I’m not very good at talking to people I don’t know, which often makes it ten times worse. Our partnership started off really awkwardly, basic things like “How was your day.” Both of us are not great at talking to new people. But at the end of class, it seemed like we could work well together. We had a lot in common, we were both introverted. I told her I thought she was a cool person and I was sorry if I had come across as awkward, but I wanted to keep talking if she wanted to.

We soon started to talk more, in English and in our other classes. We had conversations in class and outside of class. We had similar family issues and we both felt a little isolated and different from people and it was comfort- able talking with her. I felt that with my other friends I didn’t tell them about my problems. I’m a little carefree and positive on the outside and I don’t want to draw people into my problems. But we both started sharing with each other. I could talk to her and she became my guiding angel.

Nicki and Alix don’t really know each other, they only know a little through me. But both are irreplaceable friends. Their influence has taught me how to view the world more positively.

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