F is for FRIENDS.
My family has always been a bigger force in my life than my friends, but my friends have certainly played a large role in making me the person I am today and in shaping how I see the world.
Back in elementary school, my friendships were very context-dependent, changing year to year based on who was in my class. During the summer, my sister was my best friend, and that was totally okay.
In sixth grade, my friendship landscape changed. I became friends with a solid core of people that would stay mostly unchanged until graduating from high school. There were people who kind of floated in and out of our friend group or who were more friends with other people than with me, but that core of friends remained the same for seven …show more content…
They typically say it how they see it, no matter the consequences and reactions. Beer, wine, and love flow freely at Hansen family gatherings, but once you’ve done something to tick someone off, it is very hard to rejoin the family. Grudges last forever in the Hansen family.
The Harper side of the family is prim, proper, and subtly opinionated. While Hansens tell it like it is, Harpers wrap their ideas in neat little packages that can disguise what is actually on the inside. The Harper family is more of a guessing game about motive and intention, and there is a subtle attitude of egocentrism that plays itself off as naiveness. (“It was like that when I was young, so isn’t it like that now?”) The Harper side of my family has also paid for large portions of my college experience, which I am very grateful for.
What I have learned from both sides of the family is that I am a mix of both. I hate confrontation and can be a little passive aggressive sometimes, but I am more aware of the world around me. I can hold a grudge for a long time, too, which is not good. I have also inherited my depression from both sides of the family. I am a teacher, like many on the Hansen side, and I can be loud if I choose to
My family has always been a bigger force in my life than my friends, but my friends have certainly played a large role in making me the person I am today and in shaping how I see the world.
Back in elementary school, my friendships were very context-dependent, changing year to year based on who was in my class. During the summer, my sister was my best friend, and that was totally okay.
In sixth grade, my friendship landscape changed. I became friends with a solid core of people that would stay mostly unchanged until graduating from high school. There were people who kind of floated in and out of our friend group or who were more friends with other people than with me, but that core of friends remained the same for seven …show more content…
They typically say it how they see it, no matter the consequences and reactions. Beer, wine, and love flow freely at Hansen family gatherings, but once you’ve done something to tick someone off, it is very hard to rejoin the family. Grudges last forever in the Hansen family.
The Harper side of the family is prim, proper, and subtly opinionated. While Hansens tell it like it is, Harpers wrap their ideas in neat little packages that can disguise what is actually on the inside. The Harper family is more of a guessing game about motive and intention, and there is a subtle attitude of egocentrism that plays itself off as naiveness. (“It was like that when I was young, so isn’t it like that now?”) The Harper side of my family has also paid for large portions of my college experience, which I am very grateful for.
What I have learned from both sides of the family is that I am a mix of both. I hate confrontation and can be a little passive aggressive sometimes, but I am more aware of the world around me. I can hold a grudge for a long time, too, which is not good. I have also inherited my depression from both sides of the family. I am a teacher, like many on the Hansen side, and I can be loud if I choose to