▶ Your Answer : Friends play a significant role in people's daily lives in many of the places where they work or play. Some people think that being friend with someone who have a lot of things in common is more beneficial, while others do not. Both sides may have their own reasons to support thier ideas. If I were asked to choose one, I would say that it is more recommendable to make friends with those who are different from you. There are several reasons as follows. To begin with, people can broaden their views and have a better understanding of other people by having a relationship with those who are different from them. When people meet someone who have different experiences and thoughts, they can share this experiences, debate about their thoughts and finally understand each other. This will widen people's perspectives because they can find out that different values exist in the society. For example, when I was in elementary school, I was shocked to see one of my Indian classmates eating his meal by bare hands. It was the first time I saw someone eating not using a spoon or chopsticks. However, after we became friends, I learned culture of India and understood that even eating habits can be different by countries. This experience led me to understand people from other cultures with an open mind. On top of that, people can easily relieve their stress by hanging around with friends with different backgrounds. If people play with those who are different from them, they are able to experience some new leisure programms. Having a new experience can refresh people and provide new energy by decreasing the stress from work. For instance, I usually read books or chatted with my friends in my leisure. It was habitual, so sometimes I was bored by the same pattern. However, after I got to know some friends who enjoyed extreme sports, I began to enjoy scuba diving with them. It was a thrilling experience to dive deep in the sea and see beautiful sceanaries. Whenever I was stressed out, I gathered with these friends and tried various sports. As a result, I could manage my mental health. To sum up, I prefer to hang around with people with different backgrounds because I can understand others better and relieve my stress. In this regard, I strongly insist that having friends who are different from you benefits more than having those who are similar to you. |