I’ll soon be the birthday of one of my closest friends, Susie. I still cannot decide what to give her. She’s a rare friend because she has been there for me all the time whenever I need a friend to talk to. I can always depend on her to be the first to arrive to give me advice when I have problems. I guess I am so lucky to have her as a friend.

It’s more than seven years since I first met Susie in our school. I joined the theater group and she was a director then. At first I thought she was intimidating but in the end I realized that she needed to keep a strict image (形象) in order to make her actors, and actresses take her seriously. And then during practice I got a chance to know her better. In fact, she was a friendly and warmhearted person. Soon we become good friends.

I don’t know exactly what to give my friend on her birthday as I believe she has everything. So it’s really hard to buy her a gift she will like. This year I want something different and special but I don’t know what to give. One day I searched the Internet without any purpose and to my surprise there is a really lovely site where we can buy all kinds of gifts.

I scanned (浏览) some of their items and I found cool and exciting gifts. I chose a special personalized bracelet (手镯). I’m sure that this will look perfect on her. I put our names as part of the design of the bracelet so that it’ll remind us that we’ll be good friends forever. I can’t wait to give her my gift but I won’t tell her yet. I don’t want to destroy the surprise.

What does it mean to be a “good friend”?

If you ask what a “good friend” really means to me, I think the following qualities (品质) are the basis of friendship.

Firstly, a good friend means being supportive. When a friend has difficulty balancing his project and his school work, which are both important to him, 【小题1】 and I should also encourage him to overcome the difficulties.

【小题2】When my friend is struggling with his work, I should spare every effort to help him out. 【小题3】, it is worth the time and effort.

Lastly, a good friend need to show his best self, not the face that he shows to the world. 【小题4】, he should also share his sorrow with me, talk about his problem and trust that he can rely on me. 【小题5】

If you have ever lost touch with old school friends, you may find yourself wanting to make contact again. Some teens find that certain school friends are worth keeping contact with and want to keep the friendship going strong.

Hang out at the same places

One way you can get together with old friends from your school is to go to the same places that they go to. If you still go to school together, you probably know where everyone goes on the weekends. If you are able to go there too, you may find that your relationships with your old school friends start up again.

Sports teams

If you are athletic and your former friends are too, joining school sports teams is a great way to catch up with old friends. This doesn’t mean that you should join a sport which you do not like just so you can see your old friends. However, if you like sports, wish to join a team and your former friends are on that team, and then playing the team sports is a great way to get to know them again.

Take part in school clubs

There are often a lot of school clubs in which teens participate. Depending on your interests and your former friends’ interests, you may just find a club at school. Sharing a common interest such as a club activity will help you to have something in common and something to talk about.