“I don’t want to do well; I want to do good.  I will never measure my success in material goods or income, but rather my success will be measured in the goodness I create in this world.” –Cali Parey

 

When I was in middle school, all I heard from several of my friends was how great this girl named Cali was.  She went to a different middle school, but everyone at mine who knew her thought she was the bee’s knees.  Then, entering freshman year of high school, I finally met the woman, the myth, the legend: Cali Parey.  We both took Summer gym (so that we didn’t have to take it during school) and because we somewhat knew about each other and didn’t know anyone else in the class, we started talking.  Apparently, upon first impression, she thought I was weird (she wasn’t wrong).  Despite her thinking I was weird, we became friends that year through theatre and our language arts class, but we didn’t become really close until our junior year.  I often drove her home from rehearsals, where we saw each other every day, and then on the weekends, as if we didn’t get enough of each other during the week, we would hang out some more.  Senior year, we became best friends.  There was no one defining moment that took our friendship to the next level, but we realized that we were already spending all our time together, felt comfortable being alone together, and were already telling each other everything.  I remember one night near the beginning of our senior year when I was helping Cali study for the ACT, and I took a snapchat video of her singing “Count On Me” by Bruno Mars, which goes, “You can count on me like one, two, three, and I’ll be there.”  I recall just feeling so happy and lucky that she was in my life.  She is so kind and caring, and I don’t know what I did to deserve her.  She always thinks of others first, and often buys random gifts for people if she sees something she knows they will like.  I believe wholeheartedly that Cali is going to make a difference in this world.  She has a desire to help others and bring them joy, which she already does in her everyday life, and this joy and positivity inspires me and motivates me everyday to always look on the bright side of life.  My friendship with Cali has also taught me that I don’t always have to be strong and dependable, because I can always depend on her to be there for me when I’m falling apart.  I tend to try to hold it together so that I can be there for my friends, but she has always been there for me and picks me up when I’m down.  Even though we are miles apart, our friendship is still strong.  She is, and always will be, my sunshine.