Jessica+M’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

Friendship is something that everybody values, one of the greatest gifts in life. It’s the family that we can choose, the highlight of coming to school, and the people who don’t shut up. I believe the friends are your backbone and that best friends are your better half. Everybody needs them. A friend is someone who you love while they love you the same back. Someone who you trust, respect, and someone who can tell you the truth when needed. A friend is someone where the silence is not awkward, and where everything is an adventure. There are always the one to talk to in times of need. We all have those friends we always make you laugh and put you in a better mood. Kat is a friend of mine who exactly does just that. Whenever we are together we are tweedle dee and tweedle dum. We do the stupidest stuff together and get in all kinds of trouble. She always tells me her dumbest jokes that I already heard one hundred times already like "why did the mexican push his wife off a bridge, TEQUILA. "Another joke of hers is " why does Snoop Dogg wear an umbrella, FODRIZZLE." Kat is my sister. She’s family to me. We have the best of times together and softball only makes our bond stronger. We were the reason that the new softball coach quit. We gave her attitude and talked back because we didn’t agree with her coaching ways of just sitting on the bucket all practice and only talking to her favorites. Kat and I were alone on this because the rest of the team didn’t have the balls to say something or they were scared their playing time was going to be put in danger. We talked for the majority of the team and our playing time was still the same. I was proud of us that we were about to make a difference by speaking up and we did it together. She was there with me during the difficult time with the coach while I was there for her. Kat is one of those friendship that I really truly hope last for the rest of our lives. I believe that while you’re friends are there for you while you being their #1 fan as well. On April 10 of this year, one of my closest friend’s mom died. She wasn’t just a person that I would just say hi to whenever I would go over to my friend’s house but I considered her family. Kathleen was always there for me and she was the sweetest person I knew. She battled cancer for about seven years and I believed that it her was good spirit and attitude that kept her alive. Kathleen saw the positivity in everything. My friend, Courtney, wasn’t the only heart broken one when she passed away. I couldn't imagine what she was going through. I can’t imagine losing my mother at such a young age. The tears, the grief, the pain. I felt so bad for her and wanted to be the one that would cheer her up. But how could I do that when she was going through this? Around the same, the rapper, Logic, was dropping new singles from his albums. One of his songs was 1-800-273-8255. I looked it up then realized that it was a national suicide hotline number. Some of the lyrics goes like this I never had a place to call my own, I never had a home. Ain't nobody callin' my phone. Where you been? Where you at? What's on your mind? They say every life precious but nobody care about mine. Don’t worry she’s not suicidal but these exact lyrics remind me of her. She is a person who doesn’t have a lot of friends. Yeah of course Courtney has friends at school but no one outside of that. And whenever Courtney would tell me stories about her friends she would always say things like this, “my homie got down with this fool today” or she would post on her snapchat story “homie post up” and it would always be with a tongue emoji. Even sometimes when I’m with her, I would catch myself talking like that too. She had an influence on me, so whenever I would hear this song, I would think of her. I felt like it was my job to always ask her the questions Where you been? Where you at? What’s on your mind? I felt like I always had to remind her that I was there for her and she wasn’t alone. Sometimes I got caught up in my own life and forgot to always talk to her and see how’s she doing. It’s sad to say but something happened a few weeks which ended us not being friends anymore. This was not the point I was trying to get across with my speech but if I was going to tell you about Courtney, I had to tell you the truth. When our friendship was at the highest, we would always be dying to the floor laughing or just me laughing because of something stupid she did. We never really had any lows. Our friendship was one to remember. Well anyways, everybody has friends that they only say hi to in the hallways, friends that they only talk to in class, the friend that only uses you for homework, friends only in sports and we all have best friends. Mine is Jazmine. she’s my other half. The Thursday before our AP history test, I had an away game in Fillmore. The whole bus ride I wasn’t talking much, just listening to music on my phone, I wasn’t just being my normal self. Usually I would be talking to the people around me and we would be laughing about the most randomest stuff we say. Everyone was asking me what’s wrong and I would just answer with “nothing” or just “I’m fine.” When we got to soft toss, practicing our swings before the game, it’s just me and Jazmine. The first thing she said to me was “it’s because of your AP test, right?” I nodded my head and she just responded with “I knew it.” then she kept going “Jessica you going to do great. Kick ass during the test. Make this test your bitch.Who cares if you pass it or not. In ten years you will forget about it.” This is just one of the countless examples that she is one true friend. Jazmine knows me better than anyone else, knows how to make me smile even when I’m crying, the only person that I don’t get annoyed with, only person I talk shit with because she’s the only person I trust completely, and only friend that I can be my true real self around. We are the loudest whenever we are together and have so many experiences we been though. Even though I only met her freshman year, we know everything about each other. Throughout high school she has always been there for me, giving me advice when I need it, a shoulder to cry on, and my partner in crime. She knows my deepest darkest secrets and still doesn’t judge me from my past but instead helps me with my future. Even though I didn’t name all my friends, I just wanted to say a thank you for what you done for me. I wouldn't be the person that I am today without you guys. I am the type of person who likes to be in my comfort zone. I won’t try new things and especially won’t talk to new people unless they talk to me first, but I want that to change not only for me but for everybody. I want people to try to make new friends. When you look back at high school, you remember the memories that you made with your companions along the way. No one has good memories of being alone. In the America I want to grow in, I don’t want there to be students being alone. I don’t want to see the nerdy girl eating lunch by herself while reading a book. I don’t want to see people during lunch doing homework in the media center because that's the time to be social. I want everybody to be include in everything. I want everybody to be nice to one another and at least try to make new friends in the process. I don’t want to see people alone anymore or say that they are alone. Everybody has people that are they for them whether they know it or not. If they don’t have friends, they have family which is forever. You should be sad to say goodbye to the old friends but instead excited to meet new friends.