By Hayden Schwartz ‘20

When the school year comes back around, we all get nervous for the upcoming year. The academics, along with the social aspects of school, create a very stressful environment.

Here are some of the best ways to strengthen your friendships and ease your stress:

Choose wisely: not everyone is going to want to be your friend, and that is ok. You shouldn’t choose your friends based on social status, but on their character. Don’t worry about the number of friends you have, but rather the quality of their friendship and ultimately, how they make you feel.

As a friend, you will need to make decisions such as, to either be honest or bend the truth. When that time comes, you need to be real with yourself, because as the saying goes, “It’s better to be hated for who you are than to be liked for who you aren’t.”

The bottom line is that a genuine friend will respect your honesty. Some friends will come and go. Not all friendships will last forever, but you have to be able to recognize when it is time to let someone go.