Easing Up: How Friendship Makes Life Less Serious

By Amanda Code

Photo Credits: Richard Schultz

 

On Adrian Robinson’s first day of journalism class her junior year, she entered her The Apple Leaf newsroom nervous about what awaited her for that year. However, what she didn’t expect was stepping on the freshly pedicured toes of soon to be best friend, Stephanie Iverson Before meeting Iverson, Wenatchee High School senior Robinson said that,

“Basically I never had any fun.”

Becoming friends with Iverson allowed Robinson to realize that life didn’t have to be so serious.

She describes her freshman and sophomore years as not happy. She took criticism and jokes to heart and saw her world in a negative light. More importantly, Robinson didn’t have any close friends.

So when she met her complete opposite Iverson, who was full of life and spirit, it changed her life for the better. Iverson helped her learn when people were joking and how to open up. Robinson recalls the first time they really hung out, at an Applebee’s on their way home.

“I opened up to her in ways I never opened up to anyone before,” Robinson said about her dinner with Iverson. In fact, Applebee’s became the setting for many important milestones in their friendship, they even have their own table and waiter. After that night at Applebee’s, Iverson and Robinson became inseparable. This benefited Robinson tremendously, as she was able to, for the first time, realize how rich her life could really be.

Although Iverson helped bring out the fun in Robinson, she also helped her through some hard times. Early on in their friendship, Robinson had a bad breakup that left her an emotional wreck. Iverson not only helped to console Robinson but also helped her move on by encouraging Robinson to talk to her current boyfriend, Jake. Now Iverson is helping Robinson again, while Jake is on a vacation without the ability to call back home. And soon, he will be leaving again, but this time to the Navy.

However Robinson knows that Iverson will be there to help her through that transition

“Stephanie and I [are] kind of like sisters at this point,” Robinson said about Iverson. She sees the friendship lasting a long time and attributes this to the type of relationship they have. In regards to how open they were with each other Robinson said that they could talk about anything. “There’s nothing we haven’t talked about,” said Robinson. Iverson became just the friend such a usually reserved and sometimes serious person like Robinson needed. Iverson was  someone who was outgoing and not afraid of going past the comfortable. “That kind of friendship is what a lot of people need.”