In high school, having friend groups with a range of diverse ages is really special. As a group, everyone can share their experiences, get a different point of view from someone who is a different age, and learn from each other’s mistakes. 

Personally, my close-knit friend group has 4 juniors and 4 sophomores, with me being the oldest sophomore in our group. At first, befriending people older than me was honestly really intimidating, just because of the fact that they are older. But in the end, It has taught me life skills, and allowed me to make many good friends in the process.

Doing this comes with many other benefits. First, being the younger member of the group gives them the advantage of the older ones having the ability to drive them places. Thus, it gives them the opportunity to experience things they might not have had at that age otherwise. Being the older one promotes being independent and being responsible for others and themself. It teaches them that they have to be safe and responsible for their actions while knowing that they are influencing those around them. 

Another gain from having friends of different ages is having different views and opinions. If a safe environment is created within that group, they can share thoughts and become more open-minded, which is a great skill to have. This also allows them to share different opinions and agree to disagree respectfully; my friend group is still working on that one.

With many benefits, downsides come with them. Significantly, we graduate at different times. After one or more years of growing so close with that friend group, it is super hard to leave or let go while graduating. This brings up whether or not they will stay friends, depending on what friends are doing after graduation and how strong the bond is. My friend group thinks about this subject quite often. Like, A LOT. Most of us can’t handle change very well and don’t know what things are going to be like after high school. 

This might stray people away from this style of friend group, but I feel like it is important to learn how to let go and know that being friends with someone doesn’t require seeing them daily. This style of friend group can help people learn these lessons at a young age. It also promotes the fact that some change is good change;even though friends will grow apart, one should appreciate the time they spent together and how much it taught them as a person. Learning how to appreciate a friendship and not dwelling on it if you drift apart is one of the most important life lessons you can learn.