Culture of One

I come from a family of four, of which I am the oldest child. I have a younger brother named Jonathan, who is three years younger than me. When I was very young, my family lived in a neighborhood in Mukilteo, Washington that was moderately prone to gang violence and other forms of unsafe activities. We moved to Mill Creek, Washington when I was five years old, and have lived there ever since. Because of this, I have little recollection of what life was really like at our old house, and the vast majority of my memories and life experiences occurred in a relatively safe environment.

Growing up, I used to be pretty outgoing, but as I got older, I became more quiet and reserved. The peak of my shyness was likely in 6th grade, when I had a bit of a tough time making friends after having a less-than-optimal friendship experience which resulted in some trust issues that stayed with me for a couple years. When I finally got to high school, my friend group suddenly expanded. I found a group of people who I genuinely enjoyed spending time with, and even though I'm still shy sometimes, they helped me become more adventurous and interested in trying new things.

This sudden expansion in my friend group, I owe to my experiences as a band student in high school. During freshman year, it was a bit hard to make friends because of the enormous class size. As the years went on, however, people became increasingly close-knit through going on numerous performing trips, including two trips to Vancouver, B.C., one trip to Disneyland, and one trip to New York City, where we performed at Carnegie Hall. I soon found myself with what I considered a sort of second family.

With my larger friend group, however, came times of hardship. One such instance occurred during my junior year, when my friend Chris was diagnosed with cancer - specifically, stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Even though I didn't know Chris as well as some of my other friends at the time, it was really hard for me to hear about his struggle with cancer. We were supposed to be in the same German class that year, but for about four months, the seat where he should have been sitting was empty. Thankfully, through rounds of chemotherapy and other types of treatment, Chris beat cancer and is now completely cancer-free.

During my senior year, another medical trauma happened in my friend group when my best friend, Danielle, had severe complications with her ulcerative colitis and was hospitalized or at home for the better part of that entire school year. Although she is currently doing much better than before, her colitis has gotten worse over the years, and she's still battling it.

While my experiences with my friends in high school included some difficulties like the ones mentioned above, there were so many good things that came out of it that I wouldn't trade it for anything. When I came to Whitworth, I found myself missing band immensely, which I believe is due to all the positive influences I experienced in high school. I believe that the most important thing I learned from my friends during that time was that you can't take life for granted, because tomorrow might never come. As cheesy as it sounds, live each moment like it's your last. This is an ideology I will carry with me throughout my life, and I owe it to my friends for teaching me such an important lesson.