“What do you look for in a friend?” – Until I saw this question, I had never thought about what I look for in a friend. I have never gone looking for friends. I just did what everyone does: went to school. I played on the playground, participated in after school activities and sports, and then when I would meet someone in one of these activities who had similar interests, we would start talking and eventually become friends. Because of this most of the people I became friends with are people who have similar interests to mine.

What really surprised me when I started thinking of this question was that one of my best friends, Jay, did not become my friend until this year. For many years, Jay and I lived down the street from each other and went to the same public schools for 7 years. We both left the public school system in 7th grade and moved to the same private school. We share so many interests: building LEGO sets, playing Minecraft and role playing games, watching Star Wars movies and spending hours reading. We should have become friends because of all of these similarities, but for some reason we never became friends – until this year.

When I think of my friendship with Jay I see what I look for in a friend. Our friendship made me realize that it is great to share similar interests with a friend, but it is even better to be able to have a meaningful conversation about the shared interest. I have so much in common with Jay, that I can start a conversation about almost anything, and we will talk about it for hours. The other thing I like in our friendship is the way we encourage each other (and other people) to get better and excel in the things we like to do, without jealousy or competition.