My dad has always told me, “Choose your friends wisely, for there are very few true friends.” I never believed him until I got to middle school, more specifically the 8th grade. The saying my father had said my whole life became more evident. I began to see how people I’ve known since elementary school would start to choose paths. I don’t have a specific example but let’s just say that some would stay in the right path and others would start to derail to a not so pleasant path. A few years ago my father told me a story about his friend who, sadly, did not choose the right path.
In 1981, Mexico City, my father had just started 1st grade at a new school and if you don’t know anything about the school system in Mexico, just know that public schools are pretty much the worst option to choose. Because of this, many people send their children to private schools and that means that people that go to your school come from all over the city. Thus my dad did not know anybody there, and had a bit of trouble making friends but soon became friends with a boy who would help him with his homework named Felix. He was a very courteous and intelligent boy who became his best friend and they both became the top students throughout Elementary and Middle school. Later on they met this boy in middle school named Luis-Alfredo who also became a close friend. In High school, they were still friends but Felix began to distance himself from the group. He started to hang out with the popular crowd, who were only his friends because he was one of the only people who had a car at the time. They took him to parties where they had drugs and alcohol which he eventually got hooked on. My dad and Luis-alfredo tried very hard to persuade him to stop hanging out with the wrong crowd but he never took them seriously and continued going to the parties and consuming drugs. A few months later, Felix’s mother, who had an alcohol abuse problem was diagnosed with paranoia and schizophrenia and, unfortunately, committed suicide. This sent Felix over the edge and made his addiction even worse and a year later was also diagnosed with the same diseases as his mother. He tried to take his own life as well, fortunately Luis-Alfredo had gotten there in time and was able to stop him. He tried to get on the wright path, but eventually went back to drugs. His addiction had grown to the point where he spent all of his money and would ask to borrow money in order to keep up with his debt. He then sold drugs to pay it off but would still owe since he would consume his own merchandise. This made him isolated from everyone, especially the people that actually cared about him. He would rarely talk to my dad and Luis-Alfredo and would only ask to borrow money. One day his provider got angry at him for his debt and for using the drugs himself, he ultimately had him cut out of the picture. A year later Luis-Alfredo found out and notified my dad of Felix’s death. When my father told me this story, it gave me a new perspective because it is truly sad how a person’s life can change in a second for the better, or in this case, worse just by the people they have in their lives. It also made me more cautious of who I acquaint with and I hope that it helps other people to be cautious and keep an open eye for the people who actually care about them By: Luis Ponce - 10th grade
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Madeline PowersI am a NC sophomore, with a passion for writing and photography. I plan to study at NYU and get a degree in journalism. I hope to one day become a travel journalist. Archives
March 2018
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