Small-minded administrators and authority figures like to speak in cliches. All my life I heard the same trite line， \"You can tell a lot about a person by the friends they keep.\" The black sheep of the honors program， I hung out with the so-called \"losers.\" During my freshman year， not a day went by when a teacher or family member did not deride my closest friends and warn me that by hangingoutwith\"badseeds\"Iwouldfallintoa downward spiral， never graduate college， and have a miserable life. They thought that they had me figured out.

One day， while my ninth grade math teacher， Mr. Pedersen， was reviewing some math concepts with me， my friend Mariam ran by the classroom， stuck her head in the doorway， called out， \"Hi Yassee，\" and then ran away. Mr. Pedersen looked at me coldly and said with a scowl， \"How can you call yourself an Honors student? A real honors student doesn't associate with people like that!\" I wanted to ask him how he could call himself a teacher; after all， a real teacher is supposed to want to help everyone. Instead， I sat silent， stunned by his ignorance and cruelty. He wanted me to drop my childhood friends simply because they didn't place the same importance on schoolwork that I do. If he had thought before speaking， he would have realized that people like him， rather than people like my friends， are better able to turn good students into poor ones by discouraging them with ridiculous comments. I would never slight Mariam. One of my closest friends in freshman year， she was also a below average， non-college bound student. Many of the adults in my life， especially my parents and teachers， would look at those closest to me: Mariam， Alisa， Zena， Lianne， and Marvin， and ask how I could call these \"low-life losers\" my friends. But such questions show a lack of understanding of the nature of friendship.

Friendship is unconditional and uncritical， based only on mutual respect and the ability to enjoy each other's company. These authority figures never saw the way one of us could do something outrageous， and the rest of us would joke about it for days. We could have fun doing absolutely nothing at all--because the company we provided each other with was enough. Rather than discussing operas， Lewinsky， or the weather， we enjoyed just hanging around each other without any one of us trying to outsmart the others. Still， I realize that these adults had a point to be concerned about the direction my friends were heading; I also was concerned for them， but I wasn't about to leave them. Many times I would advise my friends that some activity may be dangerous or to think things through before doing something， but I would never claim to hold the moral high ground and to condescend to them. When Marvin would begin rolling joints， when Alisa would tell me she skipped school because of a hangover， or when Mariam would tell me that her new boyfriend was in a street gang， I expressed my discomfort with their actions. However， I never blackmailed them with the threat of taking my friendship away. Contrary to the commercials on television， you can have friends who use drugs. In fact， probably everyone does without realizing it.

In my junior year， AP U.S. History class， the teacher， Mr. Jacobsen， addressed the class saying: \"I bet none of you have ever seen a drug deal!\" With a look of absolute certainty and an odd smile on his face he scanned the room. \"I've seen a drug deal before，\" I answered. Everyone in the room turned to look at me， either gasping or in disbelief. I realized that maybe my experiences thus far were typical of most of my honors student friends. Despite our varying experiences， I still maintained many friends who were excellent students. Yogita， Nitin， Hans， Vishal， Saurabh， Anuj， Nick， and I have had almost every class together since eighth grade. Nitin and I both love to shop and eat. What is different about shopping with Nitin， however， is that we argue about the necessity of a high sales tax or discuss the effectiveness of the acting welfare system. Yogita and I always go to the library together and \"pull all nighters\" at her house. While I do enjoy accomplishing my academic goals and working with this highly motivated group of friends， I also enjoy \"the losers，\" who to me seem much more sincere and loyal.

In retrospect， I wouldn't change my ninth grade experience， because I learned many of life's important lessons from my friends and the ignorance of teachers and administrators. It's sad to say， but in many of my friends' dangerous actions， I saw what I never wanted to become. In the future， I'd like to continue helping adolescents， in addition to my studies. I have been fortunate thus far in being able to reach out to them through programs like C.H.A.N.G.E. For my efforts， I have been recognized and was honored to receive the 1998 Operation Pride Youth Award for my dedication to helping other kids live a substance free lifestyle. My familiarity with teenagers from all walks of life greatly enhances my ability to both identify with and influence others. I will be a successful adult in the future because I am willing to work with everyone and to give everyone a chance. Hopefully， I will also have the chance to change other kids' lives for the better.

目光短見(jiàn)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)及權(quán)威人士講話(huà)常用些陳詞濫調(diào)。我總能聽(tīng)到同一句陳腐的教條，即“物以類(lèi)聚，人以群分?！蔽宜闶莾?yōu)等生的異類(lèi)，總是與那些被稱(chēng)為“后進(jìn)生”的人混在一起。一年級(jí)時(shí)，老師和家人每天都嘲笑我的朋友，他們警告我，如果我繼續(xù)與這些“壞家伙”攪在一起，就會(huì)墮落，大學(xué)永遠(yuǎn)畢不了業(yè)，生活會(huì)非常悲慘。他們以為這是在教導(dǎo)我明辨是非。

一天，我正跟九年級(jí)的數(shù)學(xué)老師彼得森先生復(fù)習(xí)一些數(shù)學(xué)概念，我的好朋友瑪麗安從教室旁跑過(guò)去，伸出頭喊道：“嗨，亞斯!”然后跑開(kāi)了。彼得森先生冷冷地看著我，皺著眉頭說(shuō)：“你怎么能算優(yōu)等生呢？真正的優(yōu)等生不會(huì)跟這種人有瓜葛!”我真想問(wèn)他怎么稱(chēng)得上是一個(gè)老師?畢竟，一個(gè)真正的老師會(huì)幫助每一個(gè)人。但是，我沉默了，靜靜地坐著，為他的無(wú)知和殘忍驚顫不已。他希望我遠(yuǎn)離兒時(shí)的伙伴，只因他們不像我一樣把學(xué)業(yè)看得很重要。如果他說(shuō)話(huà)前經(jīng)過(guò)一番考慮，就會(huì)意識(shí)到，更易讓一個(gè)好學(xué)生變?yōu)椴钌模窍袼@種帶著偏見(jiàn)打擊他們的人，而不是像我朋友這樣的人。我永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)輕視瑪麗安。她是我一年級(jí)的一個(gè)好朋友，盡管她成績(jī)偏下，與大學(xué)無(wú)緣。我生活中的很多成年人，尤其是父母和老師，總是這樣看我的好朋友，瑪麗安，阿莉薩，贊娜，馬文，這些“下層的失敗者”我怎么能稱(chēng)他們?yōu)榕笥涯?？但是，這些困惑表明他們根本不了解真正的友誼。

友誼是無(wú)條件，無(wú)偏見(jiàn)的，它只是建立在互相尊重，樂(lè)于彼此陪伴的基礎(chǔ)之上，這些“權(quán)威人士”永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)明白，我們會(huì)惡意使壞，然后高興地笑上幾天。即使什么都不做，我們也會(huì)很開(kāi)心——彼此陪伴就足夠了。不去談?wù)搼騽?、萊溫斯基或者天氣，我們只是享受閑散的愜意，而不去絞盡腦汁一爭(zhēng)高下。當(dāng)然，我知道這些大人只是擔(dān)心我的朋友們的將來(lái)；我也同樣擔(dān)心，但我并不打算離開(kāi)他們。我會(huì)多次提醒朋友們有些活動(dòng)可能很危險(xiǎn)或者做事要三思。但我絕不會(huì)把道德束之高閣去遷就他們，當(dāng)馬文想嘗嘗大麻的滋味，當(dāng)阿莉薩告訴我她因?yàn)樽砭贫诱n，或者當(dāng)瑪麗安告訴我她的新男友是一個(gè)街頭混混。我會(huì)告訴他們我的不安。但是，我不會(huì)以絕交來(lái)威脅他們。和電視上的商業(yè)廣告不同，你可能會(huì)結(jié)交吸毒的朋友，可能每個(gè)人都有吸毒的朋友，只是并未意識(shí)到而已。

三年級(jí)時(shí)，跳級(jí)生的美國(guó)歷史課（注：AP U.S.History class跳級(jí)生美國(guó)歷史課程，具有一定難度，相當(dāng)于大學(xué)一年級(jí)的課程，可以積學(xué)分。此課程是對(duì)美國(guó)殖民地時(shí)期至現(xiàn)在的歷史概述，共兩學(xué)期）上，亞葛布森老師對(duì)同學(xué)們說(shuō)：“我敢打賭，你們誰(shuí)都沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)毒品交易!”他帶著奇怪的笑容，用絕對(duì)確定的目光掃視一下全班?！拔乙郧耙?jiàn)過(guò)”我答道，每個(gè)人都轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)看著我，目光帶著驚詫和懷疑。我意識(shí)到自己是優(yōu)等生中的異類(lèi)。盡管我們的經(jīng)歷不盡相同，但我仍然有許多優(yōu)等生朋友。我與友吉達(dá)、尼丁、漢斯、維薩兒、薩羅、安紐、尼克上八年級(jí)后每一節(jié)課都一起上。我和尼丁喜歡逛街和吃東西，特別是，我們會(huì)爭(zhēng)論征收高額銷(xiāo)售稅的必要性，或討論現(xiàn)行福利體制的有效性。我和友吉達(dá)經(jīng)常去圖書(shū)館，去她家里“熬通宵”。學(xué)業(yè)上的成功讓我很有成就感，我喜歡和一些積極上進(jìn)的朋友一起努力。同時(shí)，我也喜歡一些“后進(jìn)生”，他們讓我感覺(jué)更真摯、更忠誠(chéng)。

回首過(guò)去，我不會(huì)改變九年級(jí)的經(jīng)歷，因?yàn)槲覐呐笥选⒗蠋熀烷L(zhǎng)者的偏見(jiàn)中學(xué)會(huì)了很多人生道理。說(shuō)起來(lái)令人痛心，但朋友們的危險(xiǎn)行為成為我的前車(chē)之鑒。將來(lái)，除了學(xué)習(xí)，我仍會(huì)樂(lè)于幫助青少年。迄今為止，我很幸運(yùn)地通過(guò)像C.H. A.N.G.E這樣的項(xiàng)目為他們提供了一些幫助。我還致力于幫助其他小朋友建立有益而自由的生活方式。我的努力得到了認(rèn)可，獲得“1998年度實(shí)踐杰出青年”獎(jiǎng)。對(duì)各階層青少年的熟悉大大加強(qiáng)了我的親和力和影響力。我相信，將來(lái)一定會(huì)獲得更大的成功，因?yàn)槲覙?lè)于與人合作，并給每人一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)。我相信自己能改變孩子們的生活，使他們的生活更美好。