Elizabeth Riti

Modeling in NYC

NEXT management

As I look back on my time at KHS, I have more than a few fond memories to cherish. I play cello in KHS’s symphonic orchestra, am a member of The Kirkwood Call and I even picked up a sport halfway into my high school career (which is super out of character for me). However, my favorite accomplishments at KHS are the friendships I have made. 

In my opinion, the common “girls are mean” trope is so overdone. The media often portrays toxic friends who stab each other in the back, with intense fights and nasty words shared between the two. But, in real life, a good friend makes you a better person. I have outgrown dozens of friendships, and that’s okay. Because good friendships take work. A quality friend isn’t going to fall into your lap. It takes many late nights of consoling, laughing and crying at your favorite movies. Maybe even a couple fights, as long as you talk it out. The friendship I’m most proud of is the one I share with my best friend Charlie Blasingame.

Recently, she gave me the gift of a lifetime. When we were in 5th grade her mom made us books full of memories and pictures from our friendship. We looked at those books together, giggling at the poses or faces we made in the photos. The book lasted way longer than any toy I could have received. For my 18th birthday, she gifted me a homemade scrapbook full of the 12 years we have been friends, hiding little notes in the sleeves and leaving blank pages for the next chapter of our lives. That is a book I will keep forever, and there is no better gift I could have received.

Understanding another person so well that you can even bring them to tears of joy is something so special and often overlooked. But it is so worth it to find the people who make you feel light and happy. So go through the sleepless nights, do the girls’ nights. You will not regret it.