Everyone is affected by certain events or individuals that greatly change their.

             Many people have influenced me during my life. Three wonderful friends.

             that have had a special effect on me are Ryan, Alicia and Ana. In the three.

             years that I have known them well, they have been my best friends, and have.

             helped to transform me from a lonely middle school loner into a happy senior.

             with a decent social life. Popular wisdom has it that, "You judge a man by his.

             friends." Earlier in my life, that would have been difficult, because I had few.

             friends other than my cousins. I concentrated mostly on school and TV,.

             paying little attention to life outside my studies. My high grades made me the.

             target of torment during elementary school, the name calling: nerd, geek, and.

             worse, was so bad that I was ostracized by some of the class, and I shielded.

             myself by further isolation. My Middle School experience was no different. I.

             was still a loner. All the dances passed by, and I found other, solitary ways to.

             occupy myself. I rarely took time to hang out with fellow students during.

             weekends or vacation time, I was too busy watching television and playing.

             Nintendo. Then came high school, and in Mrs. Jone's Ancient History class I.

             sat next to this energetic guy named Ryan, who joked about the no-brained.

             teenagers working in 7-11's, made fun of the way our teacher dramatized the.

             pronunciation of the Huang-Ho and Yangtze Rivers, and satirized the.

             teacher's methodology of hand-signals for facts, generalizations, and.

             cause/effect. Finding common ground in our senses of humor and love of the.

             TV Simpson's, we grew acquainted with each other. Later in the year we.

             teamed up as the defense lawyers in a class debate trial in which Mao.

             Zedong was charged with crimes against the people of China.