Making friends your freshman year is probably the easiest thing ever. There is so much opportunity. Not only three grades of people above you, but the school is full of people you’ve never met, and you have the power to choose the new friends you will have.

It’s simple.

All you have to do is wander over to your accommodating lunch table and begin small talk. “Hey!”

“Cool varsity jacket, what sport do you play?”

“Chicken patty again? Geez.”

Or even in the hallways! Passing time is an amazing way to make friends because everyone is in the same place at the same time. Just talk about anything!

“Wow! I love your shoes!”

“Do you think passing time should be more than 5 minutes?”

“Why do these people walk so slow am I right?”

And boom, your new friend has arrived.

Your freshman year, if you use these tactics, will be the year that you have so many friends and friend groups, you won’t be able to decide who to hang out with on Saturday nights.

All of this can change very quickly though.

Since you didn’t take your time picking and choosing your actual best friends, those that would never do you wrong, you have to filter them out. This can be a heartbreaking task.

There are many different types of bad friends, and you will probably come across most of them by the time you are in your junior year. I will give you a few examples and descriptions to aid your concern.

The Homeworker

    You will not notice at first, but this friend is all in for the homework. Watch out for this friend, who will only text you for homework answers and sit next to you in class when the assignment is difficult. They will claim that they “got you on the next assignment,” but don’t count on it because most likely, that will not happen. This friend is not that hard to get rid of, just stop giving them answers.

The Foodie

    This friend will probably have the same lunch as you, and they will take into account what food you usually bring to school. Most likely, they will ask you, everyday, what you have to eat and will expect you to share with them. They will not text you or ask you to hang out; they are simply there for your food. Watch out for them in the hallways because they will follow you to your next class, wait for you to open your bag, and sprint to ask what’s inside. This friend is very easy to lose, just say you don’t have any food.

The Boyfriend Seeker

    This is the worst ‘friend’ of them all. You will be close to the friend for a while most likely and this will be the hardest friend to let go of. This friend will spend nights hanging out, visiting friends, or even just binging on food while watching movies. But then, you will start to notice little things, like her snapchatting boys you like, or even hanging out with them. You won’t think much of it until you hear what happened between her and your boyfriend. Then you will cry, scream, rage, and ultimately, disconnect from her. Even better, let go of this friend in the early stages, it’s what’s best.

The Drifter

In middle school, this will be your best friend. You will talk about how great highschool will be together until one day, you realize they start drifting away. They won’t text you as much or ask to see you after school, soon you won’t see them at school thus leading to disconnection. You will wonder what went wrong but, most of the time, nothing goes wrong. People change and so do relationships, this will be your first time experiencing this so don’t feel bad if it’s not easy to let this friend go.

The Car Hopper

You won’t experience this friend until you get your license and a car, but they’re one to watch out for. If this friend is not sure on who’s going to drive them home from school, you may notice they walk with you during passing time, or even sit with you at lunch; eventually asking (begging) for a ride home from school. On the other hand, if this friend is certain they have a ride home, and it’s not you, communication will be slim. You won’t really be hurt by it, just annoyed. A few ways to get rid of this friend: 1.Say no. 2.Ignore them all day and when the final bell rings sprint to your car so you don’t have to see them. or 3.Ask for gas money! Chances are they will try to find someone else.

“Oops I forgot to text you”

    This friend can also be referred to as a ‘just in school friend.’ They will talk to you at school sometimes and occasionally will slip up and spill plans they have for that week, then presume to invite you to them, even though they don’t really mean it. Once the day comes that you’re supposed to have plans with them, they will not text you or tell you where to go. They don’t want you to go, they simply just invited you out of pity. You can keep being friends with this person in school, just don’t get your hopes up when they ‘invite’ you places.

The Gossiper

    The only thing this friend will talk about is someone else’s business, and you will hate it. No matter what day it is, what time it is, this friend will always have the most recent gossip. Even if what she has to say has nothing to do with either of you, she will tell you. After a while you will probably get really sick of this friend. You will also notice they have nothing nice to say about anyone, ever. Just tell this friend you don’t care about everyone else’s business and they will stop talking to you.

These are just a few friends you will come across in highschool.

After time you will realize how much easier making friends your freshman and sophomore year compared to your junior or senior year. After experiencing these different friends, and more, not only will you stop making as many new friends, but you will also value your true friends.

Compared to my freshman year, (I’m now a senior) I probably have 75% less ‘friends’ now. I’ve held onto my real friends and filtered out the plastic ones, which is sadly something everyone will have to do.

Aside from all the academic lessons, picking and choosing your friends is the most important thing you will learn while in high school.