Opinion Piece: Achieving a Concentrated Friend Group

Having a concentrated friend group is one of — if not the — most fundamental tools in achieving your academic goals. Now, what on earth is a concentrated friend group? A concentrated friend group is a focused group of individuals who share the same educational aims and corresponding ambition. Let me explain.

If there is one concept/idea NSI advertises and endorses, it is teamwork. It’s on our homepage for crying out loud! Accomplishing your goals requires teamwork. It is nearly unfeasible — or uncommonly, more difficult — to achieve straight A’s or get admitted into your dream school without collaboration with other goal-orientated personalities. Now, I must state, I am not proposing to cheat. Absolutely not. I’m seeking to acknowledge the benefits of having a group of individuals to assist you in your journey. I’m encouraging you to surround yourself with people more intelligent than you and appropriate the effects of osmosis.

So, what are the benefits of maintaining a concentrated friend group? Possessing a friend group will keep you motivated and hold you accountable while enduring the rigors of an intensive academic workload. It will keep you updated with new information just published by your professors, so you never show up to class without that syllabus printed. When you become mentally exhausted during a research paper and your creativity slopes, you can rely on your friend group to review your work and get you back on course. At your exposure, you can bounce ideas off like-minded, driven individuals, aiding your academic judgment. You can console or celebrate with your friend group concerning the grade you received on your final exam. If not anything else, you have a group of friends to experience the hardships and enjoyable times together, allowing you to appreciate the journey further.

Of course, you should strive to contribute more than what you exhaust from your friend group, as this is a friendship, not a handout. Please understand, I am not suggesting to take advantage of your friends, I’m declaring you work collectively and be there for each other within what is objectively appropriate.

The benefits of having a concentrated friend group are invaluable, and I encourage everyone to seek out, refine, or continue a focused friend group. Surrounding yourself with intelligent, driven individuals will mold you into the star student you aspire to become!