Valuable Lesson: First Impressions by Aubrey

Valuable Lesson: First Impressions by Aubrey - November 2013 Scholarship Essay

Often people are attracted to become friends with people who he or she considers attractive. However, this may lead to a huge mistake because sometimes the best of friends may not be the prettiest or most attractive person in the school. As humans it is in our nature to judge at first glance, but if high school has taught me anything it is the lesson to not judge someone. Everyone has a unique background and personality which cannot be seen just by someone’s appearance. Time after time, my first impression of someone has been proven wrong with their later actions in high school.

In high school, it is inevitable to talk to different people because it is part of the education process. Yet, this does not mean everyone is willing to become friends with people from a different race, religion, or social group. Starting in middle school, a majority of my friends were Caucasian because there was not a wide range of ethnicities, but upon entering high school this has completely changed. The lunch table I sit at now has a wide range of ethnicities from South African, Korean, Chinese, Caucasian, to Indian.

When I was first shown how different my expectations were of how someone would act based on their personality was in my freshmen year math class. The girl I was assigned to sit next was from Afghanistan and wore a hijab due to her Islamic religion. Although her face was not covered it was something new to me and for some reason I expected her to be shy because her outward appearance was more modest. However, I could not have been more wrong, she was a year ahead of me and I learned quickly that she could talk faster than anyone I had ever met before. She ultimately became more of a mentor to me in high school than the actual mentor I had assigned to me. Ever since, Sadia has taught me many lessons from her life, and has given me beneficial advice through my school journey. I have seen from her friendliness towards everyone that it is wrong to not be nice towards certain people. Everyone deserves a chance at having a friend no matter what they look like, and she gave me the chance of being her friend which was a much nicer thing to do than others who just looked the other way because I was new to high school.

This is such an important skill to be open to being friends with others because it opens doors to new friendships that could be the best friendships one could ever have. Missing out on the opportunity to be friends with someone just because of judgments made continues a cycle in our society leading to animosity between different social groups. In order to learn more from others and grow as a person the best thing one can do is to help others. Also the actions of one’s friendliness could make a major impact on someone in a positive way without him or her even realizing it. This lesson is not just valuable for school but for all situations in life.