Prompt: People respond to change in different ways. Some people tend to actively embrace and adapt to change, while others tend to resist change and prefer stability and familiarity. Which type of person are you? What do you want your readers to understand about embracing change or resisting change? Use specific experiences from your own life to develop and support your argument.
For some, change feels unpleasant. You long for something that once was, and the sorrow that comes with yearning for the hope that one day that something will appear again brings discomfort so unbearable that you try to deny the reality of what change has already done. For relationships, change is an unspoken rule, as it is assumed that one and the other will stay the same, and the mere thought of change can send one into a spiral of thoughts about its potential effects. When I was with my friends in middle school, we never thought about our future together, as the present, filled with immense joy, instilled an innocence that gave our friendships a sense of security. For me, in particular, I was not very fond of change, as it pushed me into the unknown, and I would have much rather stayed in a stable, familiar space. However, as the years went by and my middle school friends and I grew older, I slowly realized that change was inevitable. And it was something I eventually had to learn to embrace.
My middle school friends and I went to different high schools after we graduated, and while it was disappointing, we still managed to stay in contact through our group chat. During our freshman and sophomore years of high school, we constantly kept each other updated, ranting about our classes and the assignments we had to complete, the crazy SEPTA moments we saw on our way to school and back home, and everything else that mattered enough to mention. Yet once junior year came around, I noticed we did fewer updates, and then, again in senior year, far fewer. I knew my friends were busy with their own lives, either working, applying for college, taking care of other responsibilities, or a bit of everything, which I understood, as I too was constantly stressed with deadlines. Once we all graduated from high school, we knew it would be even harder to stay in constant contact, as we were venturing into a new life in college, which in and of itself is a huge step. This is when I started to get anxious about what would become of our friendships. What was once a buzzing group chat, filled with texts, pictures, and voice messages, soon turned into a brief reunion for birthday wishes. Uncertainty grew about whether I was still close with my friends, and I questioned whether it had something to do with a part of me that did not fit in with the rest. As college went on, the messages eventually stopped, and the group chat became dead.
“Friends come and go,” as the saying goes, and at first, it may seem difficult to wrap your head around the thought of some of your friends drifting away later on in life. Yet people do not realize that this is, in fact, normal. As you grow, you begin to identify the physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual values you are willing to prioritize to become a better you, and sometimes they might not align with your friends’. Life also takes us in different directions, and sometimes those directions become so far apart that it becomes difficult to cross again. However, as disheartening as it sounds that some friendships are “seasonal,” it should not sadden us. The beauty of those friendships should be what we cherish above anything else. When I acknowledged that I was no longer close to my middle school friends, embracing that change was a hard pill to swallow. My mind would always go back to how they could have lasted longer than they were meant to be. However, over time, I learned to reconcile with this reality because, at the end of the day, the memories I had with those friendships will never cease to exist and instead will create a space for me to explore new friendships and experiences. For some, change feels unpleasant. Yet, resisting change will only deepen that unpleasantness. By embracing change and learning from it, you can understand how change can also feel pleasant.