Log #6

In the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the leading role, Charlie, is exactly the “wallflower,” a term to describe someone who is shy and introverted, but always silently observes people around him and gives concern to them. Because of his personality, he has few friends. However, after Charlie enters senior high school, he meets Patrick and Sam, who accept him into their group and bring change to his life. By making friends with Patrick and Sam, Charlie realizes the happiness of campus life and grows as he experiences friendship and love.

I think Charlie's story is sort of like mine. After making friends with Patrick and Sam for one year, he starts to worry about the fact that Patrick and Sam will graduate and leave him one day. When learning about Charlie’s feeling, I recalled something happening as I was an elementary school student. At that time, I was bullied by my classmates and had few friends, so I seldom talked and just kept doing my own business silently. However, a girl named Annie actively came to me for a chat and made friends with me; then I became very dependent on her. Afterwards, just like Charlie’s worry, we graduated and we were divided into different classes after entering junior high school. I often went to her class to find her for fear that our friendship would fade away. However, after all, we were in different classes and thus had fewer time to get together. One day I found that she and another girl from her class became good friends, and she spent less and less time getting along with me. I felt sorrowful in the beginning, but later I adjusted my mindset well, learnt to be independent, and made friends with others.

Although Annie and I are now attending universities in different counties and we seldom contact each other, I am very grateful for the times I have spent with her. In my opinion, having friends is really essential. A good friend can keep our company, experiencing many things with us. Besides, since we spend a lot of time being with our close friends, it's likely that we will be greatly influenced by them. Take Annie and I as an example. She was a very optimistic and outgoing person, while I was totally different from her. Nevertheless, after being with her for some time, I found she had great impact on my thoughts and personality. I learned to look on the bright side of life and became much more cheerful, which helped to know how to get along with others and befriended them.

All in all, just like what Stephen Chbosky said in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, "Things change. And friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody." There must come a time when we should face the change of things and people around us, but still, we need to keep moving forward on the path of life. However, also like what Stephen Chbosky said, "We are who we are for a lot of reasons." I think friends are exactly one reason that teaches us something, makes us grow, and makes us become who we are now.