My mom once told me “Friendship is not always about who you have known the longest, but who walked into your life and said I’m here for you and proved it.” Fortunately, the friendship lightbulb does not flip on and off. If I learned anything in my sophomore year, it would be to stop surrounding myself with so-called friends that were flickering lightbulbs, and to instead find friends that drew out the light in my bulb. 

Walking away from friendships that are flickering might as well be one of the hardest things to do. At the moment it is hard to walk away and stop giving your “friends” chances, but at some point you have to say enough is enough and close the door. Leaving toxic friendships can be difficult because of the history, but sometimes you have to stop sugarcoating the truth and start seeing it for what it truly is; toxic. After closing the door it gets lonely and hard, but it is a period of reflection that allows you to start surrounding yourself with people that are healthy for you. You can surround yourself with people that make you love your life, people that make you smile for all the right reasons and friends that fill your cup. 

This year I became close with a person that never stops making me love life, making me smile and giggle and someone that constantly ignites my lightbulb. My best friend Madison Evans (Maddog as I call her) has become my forever rom-com movie buddy and my ice cream run at 10 pm best friend. Madison came into my life at a time when I felt worthless in a friendship sense. I was feeling a good deal of loneliness because I had left my big friend group of friends and was starting to relax into my smaller group, which was a hard change. Madison came into my life and showed me what true friendship is and how I deserve to be treated. 

Madison and I are the same person but different fonts; I am the louder one and she is the quieter one, but we are both super hyper-competitive and love being high on adrenaline. We have our weekly ice cream and movie nights, Target runs and our morning debriefs on our walk to second period. I do not think there is anyone I look up to more than Madison, but she will never know how proud I am of her. If only she could see herself the way I see her because she is truly the most amazing human and I am so beyond grateful to call her my best friend. Thank you Madison for coming into my life at such a vital time and for playing such a huge role in my life; I love you a million.