The passing period at West Albany High School is 12 minutes. As you walk through the halls, you’ll see different friend groups laughing, talking, and hanging out for that short period of time before their next class. During these 12 short minutes, memories are made, and friendships are forged with personalized dynamics based on outside factors, including gender.
No two friend groups are the same. Even though there is a plethora of ‘bromances’ and sisterhoods on campus, it still begs the question: How much different can they really be?
“Having friends is an awesome thing, because you can go to them whenever you want and whenever you need,” freshman Keegan Hamlet said.
To Hamlet, his friends are a support system. And though he has a large friend group, he has been able to create bonds with one of his friends that is closer to family than anything else. Bonds that mimic brotherhood and familial bonds.
“We’re basically brothers,” said Hamlet.
The strong friend group that surrounds and supports Hamlet today has evolved. Though he has been friends with many of the people in his friend group for years, Hamlet moved away from Albany for a couple of years when he was younger. After he moved back, in 6th grade, he rekindled his friendship with one of his best friends.
“He was always there for me, and always is. And I trust that he will always be,” Hamlet said. Eventually, as time went on, more people started to join his friend group. Creating bonds that have grown through the years since he’s been back in Albany.
As he has transitioned into high school, Hamlet has noticed a change in the maturity level on both an academic and emotionally intellectual level of his friends and peers.
“I can trust them more than I did in middle school, because it was just like goofing off in middle school,” Hamlet said.
This new chapter of their perspectives, as well as the perspectives of the people around them. To Hamlet, he feels as if he can trust most everyone in his grade. But even though the majority of the people he knows will be there for him whenever he needs assistance, there are some people whom he trusts less.
“Most people in my grade would probably help me if I really needed it,” Hamlet said. “There’s some people that you can and can’t trust. You need to watch out for [that] and be careful about [who you talk to].”
Trust is subjective. And for junior Reese Letho, the amount of trust that he has in his friends is unwavering. But, he does feel either more or less comfortable based on the people that he is around. Being a part of a large friend group, Letho finds it hard to make the same connections with everyone at once.
“I don’t hang out with them [enough to] have a really deep personal connection with them,” Letho said.
But within the larger friend group, he has a smaller friend group that consists of friends from his childhood.
“We’re all interested in the same stuff,” Letho said. “We’re all similar people”.
Whenever Letho is within the smaller group, he is able to let go and not be so on guard. When hanging out with the larger group, he mostly just has sleepovers, not doing much, and just being in each other’s presence. While hanging out with the smaller group is a much more personal experience for Letho.
“I’m my most natural; I’m myself,” Letho said.
Letho feels comfortable talking to all of his friends, but it is his goal to be that person to the people around him.
“I don’t want to be somebody that people want to [keep things] from.”
His friends have been such a solid support system around him, and it’s become his goal to be that person to the people around him. Repaying the favor.
“I want my friends to be comfortable with me. To talk to me about anything,” Letho said.
