Valuable Friends

I don't like to duel on the ugly-negative-no-good parts of life; instead, I try to keep my head held high and march forward as much as possible ( easier said than done, right?). When I was a kid I felt like the world was out to get me, I felt like a fish out of water. I was, or at least I felt like I was the only person that was different and not welcomed. I felt as if no one else in the entire planet was like me ( pretty extreme I know). As we all know kids can be pretty cruel but they can also be a lot more accepting than adults at times. Well for some time I felt that kids would never accept me because some actually didn't and even today those kids that are adults today don't accept me, but I've learned not to care. When I lived in my home country of Colombia, I didn't really notice or give that much importance to having school friends because I had my brothers and my cousins and they would always be my friends, but when I moved to the States, things changed a lot.
I no longer had the safety blanket of brothers and cousins, so I went out and looked for and found my BFF'S!!! When I was in first grade I made my first true friend(s), they were twin sisters from Venezuela more than fifteen years later the three of us are still very close friends!! Despite not living in the same country any longer we still keep in touch and see each other as much as possible. I love them very much and hold them very dear to my heart because they literally were the first friends I ever made in school, the three of us were joined at the hip, and even though they moved back to Venezuela somehow we have managed to maintain the sister bond we initiated when we were seven!

I mention my twin friends because they taught me the true value of friendship and the power of a TRUE friend. Thanks to them I was able to have the confidence to meet other kids and become not just school friends but life long friends. After the twins moved back to Venezuela, at the end of third grade I was, of course sad. At that time I did not know when would be the next time we would see each other or speak to each other ( If I knew then what I know now I wouldn't have worried so much).
When I entered high school, I met and became friends with people that hold an exceptional place in my heart. As we all know high school is very different than elementary and middle school because it is in high school that friendships have the potential of either ending or becoming life long friends! I met some pretty incredible people in high school that up to this date I consider my sisters and brothers.Friends that I travel with to other states and even other countries, friends that share inside jokes that only the two of us understand, friends that have shared a good laugh and a good cry. I became friends with amazing human beings that love me for the crazy, goofy, smart, spontaneous, sweet, etc girl that I am.
I feel that this group of friends helped me become who I am today and lead me to meet more people that like them instantly became a sister or a brother to me in college.
My family has given me strength and self-empowerment to take control of my life and to live each day with a smile and gratitude, but my friends have opened my eyes to the beauty that lies in humans. Although there are those stinky people that are judgmental, self-centered, superficial low-lives, there are a lot more people that are like my friends that don't care if I have..... What's it called again?
I may not have been the most popular girl in school ever, but I know that to my friends, my TRUE friends I was and still am popular.