Which do you prefer? - Some people choose friends who are different from themselves. Others choose friends who are similar to themselves. - (쓰다보니 너무 길어졌네요.. 으윽... 좀더 줄이는 연습을 해야겠습니다..) |
Many people believe that they are inclined to hang out with friends who share many commons with them. They support this idea by quoting the old saying that goes, “Birds of a feather flock together." While this partially makes sense, in my opinion, making friends with people who are different from themselves is more beneficial because it gives many chances to have diverse friends, to share exciting activities, and to understand other people better. There are many different people living in this planet, and each one has his or her own characteristic. In closer inspection, there is a slim chance of meeting people who are very similar to ourselves. If we too much prefer friends who have many things in common with us, we could not meet as many people as possible. When I was in college, there was a girl who always sought a friend with similarity. Since she did not seem to open her mind to other people, all of my classmates did not want to get along with her, and eventually she became an outsider. On the contrary, I was a very outgoing person and had many friends to fully enjoy my university life. In this respect, it is realistic for a person to choose friends who are different from him or herself, which allows him or her to meet many friends. In addition to that, having many different friends allows a person to have a variety of activities and performances. Since every friend has own interest and hobbies, we can enjoy many different experiences we had not before. One of my friends loves sky-diving as his pastime. Naturally, I got a chance to do the extreme sport which had seemed impossible for me to do before. At first, I hesitated to jump out of the airplane, but as soon as I was in the air, I felt unexplainable impressions like 'scary but somewhat exciting'. That was unforgettable experience in my life, and now I sometimes enjoy that sport with my friend. Judging from personal experience, it is clear that to have many different friends means to have many enjoyable activities. Finally, people can develop understanding of others through hanging out with friends who are not similar from them. As the society changes, distinctive individuals appear, and thus this requires us to accept difference between people to be more successful in our life. Since I could develop deep understanding of others by getting along with a great number of different friends, I was recognized as a suitable employee to be a leader of my team, and consequently, I got promoted. I am now very satisfied with my life, and everybody envies my great ability to bring a harmonious working atmosphere in my team. This is all because of my experience of having many different friends while in university. To sum up, I firmly believe that mingling with friends who have different personality has many advantages including expanded relationship, new experiences and better acceptance for others. As an old saying that "Opposites attract" goes, we need to expand our horizons through living with different kind of people. |