Students often associate friendship with the qualities of being a good friend. Those qualities may include: honesty, trustworthiness, being supportive or loyal. But what does a long term friendship mean to students?
“A long term friend is someone you share everything with. They always have your back and you have theirs,” senior Nora Budke said. “I’ve gained a complete support system out of my friendships. Everyone’s friendships can look different, but the most important thing is to care about each other and enjoy the presence of one another.”
Growing up in a small community and going to a small school, students don't have a wide variety of friends to choose from. Although, the bonds that are formed in these communities are often the ones who stay by each other.
“I have been with my friends since we were in pre-school. I don’t think everyone can say that about their friends, but because we’ve grown up in a small community, it has been easy for them to stick by my side,” junior Mayah Dorsey said. “I am thankful for the friends I have and I can always count on.”
For some students, friendships hold a deeper meaning. Often these long-term friendships start to turn into family.
“When you have a long term friendship, it means that you’ve trusted each other for a long time and that you’ve always been there for each other,” freshman Avery Beyer said. “I’ve gained a lot of happiness when it comes to my friends and I know they’re always there for me. These friendships feel like family because I’ve known them so long and we have done everything together.”
A good friendship is what students make out of it. When students put in the effort and willingness their friendships last for a long period of time.
“Long term friends can sometimes get into arguments or drift away from each other, but yet are still there when they are needed the most.” junior Cooper Schroer said. “In order to make these friendships work you have to have respect and be honest with one another, otherwise your friendship will fall apart.”
Juniors Emily Miser and Avia Banks play against each other in an arcade racing game. “A friendship with someone means they always have your back. That person is always there for you,” Miser said.
“Friendship means to me someone that you can hang out with, share memories, and work on boring projects together and make them fun,” junior Aidan Eidman said. That is exactly what Eidman and junior Taylor Palenske are doing while playing basketball together.
Three freshmen, Carys Price, Carson Schroer and Piper Vogel race together at the arcade. According to Price, “Having a good friendship means that you will always have someone there for you. You can always depend on that person and they can always depend on you.”. Price shares these values in her friendship with Schroer and Vogel.
Freshman Piper Vogel is racing in a game while freshman Carson Schroer gives her some tips about how to win. “Friendship is having someone who you can talk to about anything. It is also having a person who will have your back through anything and someone you can really trust,” Vogel said. Schroer and Vogel have created this type of friendship over time, including these values within their friendship.
“To me, friendship means that that person will always be there for you no matter what, without judgment,” senior Bella Zerbe said. Zerbe and senior Abbey Vega demonstrate this type of friendship in many different ways.
Junior Grace O’Brien and sophomore Karsen Vandegrift are two very close friends. “Friendship to me means that you can trust that person and you know they will be there for you. They are like family and will always be loyal and be by your side when you need them,” O’Brien said. Vandegrift and O’Brien are two friends who have become like family over their many years of friendship.