Without a doubt, I can say friends are part of the factors that made us who we are today, either for better or worse. There is a popular saying that goes like this:
"The kind of friends you keep show who you are" and "Show me your friend, and I will tell you who you are."
One thing about friendship is that it affects your personality, directly or indirectly. Some people might take note and adjust if they start picking up some bad habits from their friends, while others won't even notice. Thinking of the choices I have made while growing up, I have come to realize I have always been careful with friends, but there are still some mistakes I made that need to be corrected.
While growing up, there were some sets of people I became friends with in high school, and the best part is that we are all still friends, even though some of us are now in faraway locations. They are the people I consider friends, but along the way, I made some more.
My first set of real friends. 2020
If I were to go back to the past and advise myself, I would tell myself. "Don't become friends with that girl called Ayo."
Ayo was one of my earliest friends, more like a childhood friend, but I never saw the benefit of becoming her friend. Not like I was expecting something from the friendship, but all I got from the friendship was hurt and betrayal.
I have always liked Ayo as a friend but one of her inborn traits that she's so expert in is "Lying." There is no one Ayo hasn't lied to. She lied to be about her admission into a Ghana university, then she finished and started at another university in Nigeria. We went to same junior school, she gossip and share some secret told to her by some female friends. She went ahead to tell some other girls and it became a battle in class that time. Just to save her neck, she told the girls "Since we are friends, she told me everything and she suspect I was the one spreading the secret."
That year was one of the painful years of my life when it comes to friendship. The girls in class hated me, I was reported to their boyfriend and got bullied many times. Ayo told me everything and said she was sorry. I forgave her but if I went back in time, I would tell myself "Reveal the secret and let her suffer too" because of this lie, I was hated by all the girls in the class, I could only make two female friends amongst 29 of them.
Well, I would advise myself not to go to a certain school too cause most of the friends I made there were broken, and they almost had their way trying to break me too but apart from those set of people, the remaining I have ever made friends with since I step my feet on earth where amazing people.
Same set of people now with their boyfriends and girlfriend attending one of us wedding. 2023
Here is a picture with the bride. 2023
Yes, sorry you can't see me in any of the recent 2023 pictures. Back then, I was traveling all around my country because I was doing my "National Youth Service Corps" (NYSC. All I got were pictures and happiness from the video sent to our WhatsApp group. I still can't believe they had the wedding when I wasn't around. Anyway, I was so far away then.
These are my day one friends and I will continue to consider them friends no matter what. I have made a new set of friends during my travels, but none of them can meet up to the level of these ones. If I am to make a choice of friends again, I will still choose them.
Thanks for reading. I hope you are able to learn from it