Blog Post 8: Intellectual Friendship

I can say that I’ve had many great friends.  However, I can’t say that I’ve shared many intellectual journeys with these friends.  Looking back on the intellectual struggles I’ve faced during high school, I realize that I tended to shy away from engaging my close friends.  Throughout the academic struggles I’ve faced, I’ve grown with many distant friends and have avoided my closest friends.  Although many students tend to rely on intellectual friendships, I’ve always found it easier to pursue academic tasks with people I wouldn’t mind losing as friends.  I would approach scholarly challenges with the limited perception that intellectual collaboration leads to destruction more often than not.  My adamant belief, which determined the fear I had for losing friendships, would govern my high school career.  However, it was only after graduation that I become aware of my limited experience and knowledge in the realm of collaborative friendships. 

              During the summer prior to this current fall term, I, reluctantly, took a class with one of my two best friends.  The thought of entering a large campus and tackling the daunting subject of physics was overwhelming.  For this reason, and a desire to spend a majority of the summer with Tyler, I decided to ask him to take the class with me.  Upon entering the cold lecture hall filled with a staggering twenty people, I sat neatly at a desk, pulled out my writing essentials, and energetically awaited the Professor’s introduction.  As I looked to my side expecting to see an equally eager spirit, I saw Tyler open up his laptop and swiftly, as if almost habitually, type reddit.  For the remainder of the class Tyler listened, occasionally typed a few words, and kept his eyes focused on whichever topic he was reading on reddit.  After the first exam, I quickly realized that we were two very different people; I was a hopeful splitter and Tyler was a realistic lumper.  We had our first fight over the homework, as I stared at unsolved problems for hours and Tyler relied on Google for the bulk of his answers.  When our differences drove us to the point of barely speaking, we sat down and talked to each other.  We came to an agreement to work at our own paces and convene to discuss difficult materials.  Although our intellectual relationship involved a bit of distance and silence, we trusted the connection we shared as friends.  Throughout this academic relationship, we addressed challenges and became appreciative of the support we provided each other.  This experience widened my perspective so that I began to appreciate academic challenge for its ability to strengthen friendship in unexpected ways.