New Friends

As I walk down the hall at school, I like to look around at all the other kids. Some are smiling and laughing with their friends. Some are walking without friends. Some look down at the ground trying not to get noticed. I believe everyone needs a group of friends. Friendships, no matter the number of friends you have, are essential to your happiness. Having several really good friends is better that a lot of casual friends.

I wonder why some people look at the ground when they walk and why they don’t look up at the people around them. Are they too afraid? Are they embarrassed that someone will laugh at them? Do they feel like they don’t fit in? Why don’t they have friends that they can hang around and joke with? Why do they look at the ground?

I was one of those people 2 years ago after I moved schools. At my old school, I had a very close group of friends and we always hung out. Then when I moved schools, I lost my group of friends. I was too shy to just go talk to the new kids at my new school. So I always looked at the ground when I walked between classes, only looking up to make sure I didn’t run into anything or anyone. I was too afraid someone would make fun of me or laugh. I was too embarrassed to look up. Then it dawned on me one day, “Why am I looking down? Everyone is looking at me because I’m looking down.”

After coming to this realization, I began to look up and into people’s eyes to see the same thing I was going through. The people who ignored me before now started talking to me just because I wasn’t always looking down. I began to make a whole new set of friends. It became a cycle: the more I looked up, the more friends I made, and the more friends I made, the more confident I got. My eyes began to sparkle again. Your eyes are simply an expression of your heart.

The next time you’re walking down the hall or street, try to get the courage to look up into someone else’s eyes. Maybe you’ll find what you’ve been looking for: understanding, thoughtfulness, or someone to laugh with. Maybe you’ll help somebody else who is looking down. You could make a new group of friends.