My Relationship With My Friend

Being a good listener is not something that comes natural. You must learn to be an active listener. Do not interrupt, you should listen more than you speak and always keep an open-mind to avoid immediate judgement. When a PAL comes to me with a serious concern, I will take them to my office, silence the cell phone, close the office door, look them in the eye and listen intently to their concerns. I would repeat what concerns they have and respect that they have taken ownership and brought this problem to my attention. I will be certain not to belittle or downplay their very real concerns and reassure them that I understand their problems or concerns and I will help find a solution. I would let them we will be working

The five factors that predict interpersonal relationships are: proximity, familiarity, similarity, physical appearance, and reciprocity. Proximity refers to the geographical location of persons. People are more likely to initiate, engage, or maintain relationships if someone’s geographical location is near or convenient to the person they are to pursue. Relationships, whether romantic or platonic, are not as likely to be initiated if the proximity does not allow individuals to cross paths or maintain a certain level of communication. As well, familiarity plays an important role in the fostering of relationships. People are said to have an increased attraction and fondness for individuals that they see more often than those they do not. In lay terms, similarity can be summed up by saying that people enjoy the presence of those like (or similar) to them. Individuals are more often drawn to and feel less intimidated by others that share their culture and belief systems; thus, are more likely to form relationships with them. Next, is physical attractiveness; which can be defined in two different ways. First off, people tend to believe that beautiful things equal good things and are more likely to seek out relationships with individuals they find beautiful. However, people are also likely to form relationships with people they believe to be on

“Interpersonal communication involves both content and relational levels of meaning”, which at the time of (Sec. 1 Interpersonal Communication). While the content level of meaning in a relationship “…refers to the information being exchanged and what response is expected”, the relational level of meaning is what is actually happening between the participants (Shelley). I am going to depict both relationship levels of meaning, using a recent experience that I had with one of my best friends, someone who I am very close with.

True friendship can be defined as the relationship between two or more friends that contains mutual trust and support. Ordinarily, a friend is someone who knows a person almost better than his or her own self. Friendships are not about keeping secrets from one another, judgement, or competition; they are not one-sided or jealous. The ability of acting as one’s true self without fear of what others may presume is true friendship. Trust, happiness, care for one another, and loving as though a person is part of his or her own family are the structural beginnings of friendships. In the past, I had had several friendships come and go. Through these experiences, I have learned how to maintain a real, healthy relationship with friends. One outstanding example of the true meaning of friendship is found in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7; it reads, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Best friend (n) - a person’s closest friend (Dictionary.com). By definition, a best friend could be one’s closest friend, but there is so much more to it than that. Imagine a best friend. They help in the darkest times, but they also laugh at the best times. Often, the greatest time spent together is with this best friend. This best friend knows everything there is to know; what would you do without this best friend? Well, one afternoon, a call comes in. This best friend took their life earlier in the morning. The overwhelming, but hidden, issues they had been facing at home fatally surfaced. It’s a reality now, what really am I going to do without them? Charlie, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, ponders the same question as he enters high school alone. A void in his life in the wake of his best friend's suicide the year before. If Charlie’s best friend could’ve been honest and talked to Charlie about what he had been dealing with at home, he may still be around. However, Charlie, like time itself, must move forward. He must bravely walk through the halls of his new school and discover new relationships. Stephen Chbosky develops intricate relationships between characters dealing with the hardships of high school in The Perks of Being a Wallflower to reveal that relationships connected by lies fail, but complete truth prevails.

I always loved having one friend that always had my back. That one friend meant the world to me. She had dark brown hair and eyes just like me, and we were practically the same height. Honestly, we looked decently alike, just her hair was much straighter than mine. We went to kindergarten, most of grade school, and dance classes together. Whenever we were out with just one parent, people would look at us with a weird kind of creepy smile, which I knew meant they thought we were cute. They’d then glance at my mom and go “your girls are adorable”, implying we were sisters. We would always beat her to responding and say, “thanks!” Everyone at school thought we were twin sisters too. Although our birthdays posted on cut-out flowers on the classroom wall were a month and eight days apart, we claimed some twins are born at different times. She and I ruled the school, we made everyone follow us. The attention felt great. She would always ask someone to hold her bag or let her use their pencil and I’d always stand beside her and say “ya”, “me too.” I was never the one to ask for myself, I always went with what she said because it was her judgement I was dependent on. Ever since I was three years old I’ve had this one best friend. My sister, my twin, and essentially, my only friend. She was the only one I could depend on, the one I knew was always gonna have my side. Or maybe, all along, it was just me on her side.

Throughout our lifetime we face opportunities to interact with one another, often creating relationships unbounded by definitions but in unconditional terms of reason. We hold onto these individuals in hopes for an internal bond fostering a lifelong friendship. I am talking about your best friend. We have all had one at some point in our lives, many times fluctuating between people but still maintaining a set system of how to determine the deserving title. My ethical dilemma is the special bond I had the opportunity to continue between my good friend and myself.

A relationship that I have with someone would have to be with my dad. My dad has always been a big influence on me and the things I do. He’s an airline pilot which means his job can be very stressful due to the fact that the lives of many people are in your hands. My dad always tries to keep a positive attitude on things no matter what the situation is and always believes that things can be fixed even if they don’t seem to be fixable. He always asks me if I have homework and how are my grades almost every single day and I use to think it was quite annoying but the more and more I’ve grown I realize it’s just because he cares and wants me to do my best at everything I do.

There’s a gal in my life whom I had met my freshman year of highschool, she’s my best friend, my role model and the love interest of my short lived life. We were desk partners in Spanish One second semester. I had a particular interest in her for the entirety of that semester until I flat out realized I had a heavy crush on her. Eventually I grew the courage to tell her in the most goofy, awkward way possible. “Hey Sydney, I need to get something off my chest... I like you”. Then I essentially vanished into my next class. Her reaction made me feel incredibly calm, I wasn’t used to talking to girls. Her reaction made me realize talking to girls was incredibly easy, I had been talking to her the entire semester. Then Summer break came and left as quickly as it did... over that time I made no attempt to speak with her again.

Because of an experience with a friend I learned that often times some people tend to prejudice me before they even get to know me.

Passing the mile marker of informing me that Norfolk was right around the corner, filled me with the anticipation of so much happiness, but a little bit of nervousness too. I was on my way to visit Julia, one of my best friends for the longest time. Driving down the bumpy highway, I thought back to some of my fondest memories with her, including playing on a fallen, rotten tree and pretending to have a chocolate shop with the mud from rain. As little girls, we would dress up and making singing videos, which continued well into when she drove me to school me freshmen year and we would sing and blast jams, sipping on our caramel frappuccinos. It had been almost a year since I last saw her. She had graduated from Midlothian High School the year before and was now attending Old Dominion University. It was Midlothian’s spring break and she had invited me up to visit her that first weekend off. When the car pulled up by her dorm building, she was waiting outside, wearing that same old cobalt-colored sweatshirt with stains from baking scrumptious desserts with her. We leapt into each other's’ arms. The hug was the purest form of friendship and love and it felt so great to see her. I said goodbye to my mom and walked up to Julia’s room. There was huge, Disney puzzle on the floor and I immediately sat to contribute my amazing puzzle skills. While we worked on it, we caught up on everyday girl talk - the usual dramas of the neighborhood and which boys we were talking to. We also went

A mutual relationship, a win-win relationship. These two relationships are the same thing, just different wording. A mutual relationship can also be displayed as two or more people that have their struggles but decide to help others and try to make another’s life better. However, for this relationship to be considered, “mutual,” all parties must contribute. Take these two boys as an example. Kevin Dillon is a boy that suffers from a type of dwarfism called Miquorio Syndrome. This type of dwarfism is 100% fatal. With Kevin’s appearance, children would often call Kevin, “Freak,” which means that Kevin does not have friends. Alike Kevin, Max also does not have friends. Max Kane is the son of Kenny Kane, a known murderer. Max’s peers have harassed Max not only as a result of the incident but also due to Max has failed the seventh grade. Twice. To put the whipped cream on top of the pie, he is not only harassed by his peers but also by adults. Together, Max and Kevin decide to help each other get through life, and become, “Knights,’ by doing what’s right, and bringing justice to those who have been dishonored. Together, they have a mutual relationship because Kevin helps max with school and is a good friend, Max helps Kevin do good deeds and is a good friend, they help one another get past their limitations, and finally because they work together.

When I was young, I didn’t have many friends. I was not very socially outgoing, but I had three great friends that were bound to me by the virtue of meeting at an early age. While I was not a popular young man; my three friends and I managed to create our own niche .We made our own little group that could become our refuge, our own world where we could be each other’s strength, entertainment, support in school, and eventually life itself. Acquaintances, coworkers and schoolmates came and went, but our friendships remained. Eventually, this came to be the foundation of a belief of mine in life. I would always believe in and gave my loyalty to my friends and was given back faith and enduring companionship. If only I had known that years later I would experience something that would shatter my faith in friendship.

A Friendship isn't about who you have known the longest. It's about who walked into your life and said "I am here for you" and proved it.

At the beginning of this semester I picked three different communications that I wanted to improve on in my relationship with my sister. I chose to work on skills regarding conflict management, listening: receiving and responding, and language. To begin this process, I narrowed these three skills down. I decided that within conflict management I would like to try involving collaboration and the win-win problem solving technique when managing conflicts. To improve my listening skills, I decided that it would be beneficial for me to use mindful listening and avoid defensive listening. I also found ways to improve my language skills. I decided that I should attempt be more polite, and avoid using critical “you” statements when communicating with my sister. To improve my communication skills with my sister, I not only had to try, but I also had to be patient.