Throughout this school year my friendships have changed drastically. I started the year off with some friends who probably were not the best. They had bad habits that i didn't want to have. They were not bad in the sense of doing drugs, it was the way they treated people. But I also met one of the best friends I will ever have that year. Canyon View Middle School is a very diverse, and I think that this is what causes so many cliques. People like to be around what they know, and who they know. Even if it means leaving others out.

Canyon View has a bunch of terrible cliques. . The girls are rude, and the boys are disrespectful. At the beginning of this year, I had some friends who were part of these cliques. I never felt included when I was their friend. They always make snarky comments and exclude people.  About three or four months into the school year, I decided that I did not want to be part of that group. I did not want people to think of me the way I thought of my so called ‘friends’. This is also about the time that a new dance season was starting, which would introduce me to the best friend I thought I wouldn’t ever have again. One of the hardest things I ever did was walk out of that friend group. Something inside of me wanted to stay. It was safe and I felt like people saw me, but I knew that I couldn’t. Being excluded was not fun. I started being with them less and less.  I felt like I could focus on school, and dance more than ever.

Dance was so important to me. To get to dance, I carpool with a girl, named Emilee who lives by me. All of the girls on my team are amazing people, but me and Emilee just had so much in common. Our brothers are best friends, and our dads both work together. We quickly became best friends. Emilee is in the seventh grade, so I am dreading the day I have to leave my dance studio, and we won’t be on a team anymore. I will be in highschool, and she won’t. I know that our friendship will get weaker because of this, and I dread that. But Emilee is not just a friend at dance, she comes to my house almost everyday. My mom loves her, and so do all of my siblings. In a year from now, Emilee will be part of the CVHS Talons, the high school's drill/dance team, with me. Dance is where we see each other everyday. It keeps us close and we can bond over it. Dance was such a blessing in my life this year. I feel like it changed me into a completely different person. I have a better work ethic, and never give up because of it. It has helped me with friends and so much more

I also made another friend this year that was  unlikely. Jacqueline Reber, is one of my closest friends now. I also met her at dance. Emilee and I befriended her towards the middle of the dance year. She was funny and loud and did not care what anyone thought of her. I admired this. She is so stubborn and strong headed, she knows exactly what she wants. I love her because she came into a friendship that was already so happy to be where they were, and somehow she made it better. This brings us to now. I am still friends with both of these girls.

Even though we are going our separate ways in dance, drill team, and cheer, I know we will stay friends. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to make these friends. I don't know what is in our future, but I know it will be great.