In English, we were asked to write an essay based on one of the ten things we  have learned in our lives. We had to use the symbol we had previously created and bring it to life in our introduction paragraph. We then discussed a personal story in the second paragraph and concluded it all in the conclusion paragraph. The goal of this essay was to learn how to use symbols to express our thinking. In WebAudio, we then created a Flash podcast video to enhance our essay. This was done in order to give the essay a visual to go along with it and overall make it more interesting to the viewer.

 Unwanted Change

 In my hand I hold a delicate pink rose. If I were to squeeze it too hard the flower seems as if it would crush into a million pieces. The rose has this unseen vulnerability; if you treat it wrong, it will shatter. I watch as the rose begins to open up from a bud to this stunning blush firework. Suddenly, in my peripheral vision I see the stump of an old wounded flower. It has rigid torn edges, as if someone purposefully tried to destroy it. There is no reason to change such a beautiful flower, just like there is no reason to change a person. Trying to change the flower will only make it look ugly. Like changing a flower, trying to change a friend will only cause frustration.

Growing up my best friend and I were always inseparable. Name any day at any time and we were probably together making up a new cooking recipe or dressing up in wacky clothes. Throughout all of elementary school we were very close, but one day something just changed. I was walking into school and I saw her hanging out with the ‘cool clique’. They were all standing in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, as if nobody but them were allowed to be included in their conversation. I tried to nudge my way into the circle to say hi but all I got were snarky comments telling me to back off. Even my best friend didn’t stand up for me. Later that day when we were doing homework at her wooden kitchen table, nested in between her kitchen and living room I confronted her about that morning. I asked why she didn’t talk to me and she just ignored the subject. I told her to please just include me in their conversations and she refused. I felt my heart sink into my stomach. She had already changed. I was sad that I had just lost my best friend but mostly, just frustrated that it had to end this way.

It’s strange how people can change in the blink of an eye. Changing a friend will never do any good. Just as the flower petals were ripped off of the flower and then it became less beautiful, changing a friendship will only do the same. A friendship, like a flower, is very vulnerable. If you don’t treat it wrong it will change and possibly be destroyed. However, this friendship also taught me to give people more chances. After talking to my friend about that incident just once, I decided I was too frustrated to keep up with the friendship, and years later, I regret doing that. Although I learned some valuable lessons from this friendship, it was just too fragile to exist. In the end, I learned that trying to change a friend will only cause frustration.