When I was little and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I knew I wanted to be successful for two reasons. #1 was to be able to take my dad back to Egypt and let him retire, and #2 was to show my friend Alyssa, the world.
I am very fortunate to have my friends from back home in New Jersey. These girls are an extension of my family and there is not a day I don’t speak to them. Half of us went to elementary school together and the rest joined in only a few years later. After knowing them for almost 15 years, I can say confidently that they, in combination, have completely made me who I am today.
Of the 8 girls (Alyssa, Ariana, Emily, Katy, Anushka, Mariela, Camille, and Risa), Alyssa has been the most formative to my person. She has single-handedly made me a better person and has enlightened me in more intellectual and emotional ways than I could ever thank her for. In every situation, she is my sound of reason. She is cool and loves to document life. She is very flamboyant with her style and is genuinely the funniest person I know. She is incredibly good at being impartial and unemotional and knows how to calm me down with reason.
As awful as this may sound, Alyssa is not my best friend. She knows this, and I know this, yet in my friend group, that’s okay because we all go to each other for different things yet still remain as one. My role in my friend group has had irreversible damage on my role in every other aspect of my life, more than I’d like to admit. Luckily, it’s been a good one though. However, I’d still say Alyssa knows me better than anyone else.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a thought, no matter how awful, gut-wrenching, or insanely private, that I haven’t shared with her. She has helped me more than she knows. With every struggle I’ve ever had, especially these last few years, I’ve used Alyssa as another voice of reason to get me out of whatever hole I’m in. She knows me more than I know myself and pushes me to be my best in every situation. I appreciate her ability to be herself in every situation. I appreciate her genuine honesty and morally good intent in every situation. I appreciate her for her realistic point of view because it’s one of maybe two that can genuinely get through my insanely stubborn mind.
Alyssa can find the beauty in absolutely everything to an almost annoying degree. I am well known for my chronic pessimism and usually can’t stand those who have such a positive, and what I consider an unrealistic, outlook on life. Alyssa, however, somehow balances between that nauseating happy-go-lucky way about life and more pragmatic morals. So, when she finds the beauty in all the random blades of grass she takes photos of, I’m almost forced to give them a second thought and look a little closer. From Alyssa, who has never left the tri-state area, I am reminded of how much beauty is around me, and how beautiful and lucky I am to have gone to the places I’ve been and meet the people I’ve met.
Even in college, Alyssa and I, as well as our friend group, talk every day. I have no doubt in my mind that these girls will be the cool aunts to my future kids. And still, especially now in the first semester of organic chemistry, which is what many consider the first real class on the way to my dream career, when I struggle to find the motivation to study at night, I think about why I want to be successful, and I remember Alyssa. Every day I study, I know one day I will be able to repay Alyssa for her friendship and show one of the few people who truly sees the beauty in everything, the rest of the world.