Buddies, pals, besties or whatever we call our friends, they play an essential role in our lives. They can influence our life for the better or for the worse. We have to be cautious while choosing our friends because their energies and vibes will surely have an impact on our mood and emotions as they are the people who surround us. Friendships can vary in quality and have no age limit. We can be friends with a 5-year old or even an 80-year old. All that matters is good understanding and connection. 

Friends are someone you can laugh and cry with. A person can make many friends during their lifetime, but their first friends are their parents. Parent-child friendship is completely built on affection, love, trust and understanding. Family members who feel close to our heart can also be considered friends. A student can respect a teacher as a friend, valuing teacher-student boundaries. They are like our second parents. All these friendships are different from peer friendship. It is between two persons of similar age. 

We make many friends in various stages of our learning and professional journey, but not everyone will hold a special place in our heart. Friendship is a bond between two hearts. It grows like a tree basing upon the emotional connection and not relating to physical attraction. Good friends will be with us through thick and thin. They support each other in every season of life. Good friends stay honest with each other. They stay loyal till the core. There will not be any room for jealousy and rivalry between true friends. They grow together. 

Whereas, friendship with pessimists and bullies brings negativity and stress to our lives. It leads to poor decision making which hinders our growth. They encourage bad behaviours and introduce us to unhealthy practices. Bad friendships cause students to deviate from their goals and job holders or working professionals can become less productive at work and may also lose family connections. Ultimately, there will be more sufferings than happiness due to bad friendship. It will ruin our life. So, choosing friends also affects our career and personal life.

- N. V. S. Pravallika
 CSE, B.Tech 1st year