March 2026
By Alejandro Flores, Staff Reporter
Entering the first year of 7th grade was really tough for me because I haven’t had a good connection to rely on.
I often made a lot of friends when I was younger, and I had a very good social circle, but never anyone to tell my deepest secrets, my insecurities, my trauma, the life outside of school. My true life had been living behind a mask with no one there. Until a curly-haired girl came up to me, Yamilet Sanchez, asking people if they knew her crush’s friends. She asked me if I could ask her crush if they were into them, I did as she said. Little did my 7th grade self talk to my very first and true best friend.
According to the American Psychology Association, in childhood and adolescence, high quality friendships can protect children from mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. The APA also found out that people who have close friends live a more satisfied life and lower any health-related death causes. When I met Yamilet, I felt like I could be my most authentic self around her and tell her the secrecy I wouldn’t trust myself with. She helped me realize that reality isn’t bright and easy, she helped me learn lessons that I needed for my future and reality; but I also helped her with her life. Yamilet said that, when she met me, she didn’t really think I would be the type of person she would usually talk to, but when she allowed me, she changed. I made her realize that not everything is against her and everything isn’t as negative as she thinks it is. I grounded her when drama was around her, I was there when everyone else left her, when everyone left me.
The APA also states that high quality friendships don’t need constant interactions with each other, a simple catch-up is all quality friendships need. Yamilet told me that our friendship isn’t built up on frequent interactions and that we don’t bicker about each other if we don’t talk much, but we talk things out if something’s not clear. But we both know that we have our own lives and friend groups, but we also both know that we’re always there for each other.
The APA also found that having best friends can change our responses to stress. When we are around our best friends, APA finds that we have lower blood pressure around good friends instead of fake ones. When Yamilet and I were starting off our friendship, she was the type of person to handle things with anger and force, but when I was with her, I helped her calm down and realize not everything needed to be acted with brutality, but with acknowledgment and maturity. Now she has a healthy circle of friends and she now acts towards situations with more ease and maturity, knowing that she shouldn’t involve herself into meaningless fights.
The APA found that you and your best friends have similar brain activity in areas such as motivation, reward, identity, and sensory processing; basically meaning that you and your best friend think alike in goals and identity. When Yamilet and I had our first hangout, I felt like I was a little kid again, feeling like I re-entered what childhood should’ve been like. What I want people to know who never experienced a good relationship is that it feels like a haven. Something you know and trust. A story that feels all too well, but you’re the main character with your sidekick. Yamilet stated that communication is all that you need to form an inseparable bond.
A best friend isn’t always from shared bonds or friendly introductions, your best friend can just be a stranger; fate waiting to change your life and theirs.
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