Many people would define friendship as the emotions or conduct of friends; the state of being friends. For a group of sophomores, friendship matches that definition.

 

Dayton Hugunin, Patrick Driggs, Eli Schemper, Ryan Babcock, Preston Beckman, Terrance Clark, Kassidy Kurbas and Quinn Corder have experienced a friend group on a large scale.

 

“It’s kind of special to me because not a lot of people get an opportunity to be friends with such a large group of people,” Corder said.

 

Although friendship 101 isn’t a course offered at Phillipsburg, if it was, this friend group would pass with a hundred percent. From the outside looking in, it may appear that this is the picture perfect crew. However, when you get to the inside, you learn that nothing is perfect.

 

“Of course anything with multiple people provides challenges, but I feel like our friend group does a really good job of learning to balance all the personalities,” Driggs said.

 

The definition of a friend is someone who is there to help support you and provide a good time. A good time is key to many of the members in the group. A topchoice of the group's favorite time has been fitting eight people in the Schemper’s hot tub.

 

“One time before a junior high football game we went to get ice cream from Sonic and Eli hit a dip and we spilled our ice cream all over Eli’s Yukon and it got in every crevice possible. That’s for sure been my favorite memory,” Hugunin said.

 

The saying “friends come and go” is very suitable to many peoples' realms of life. And although that may be, Beckman feels a different way.

 

“I get that many people often have friends for a while and then they move on, but I feel like I’ve become so close with all these goobers that I would never want them to leave,” Beckman said.

 

The definition of a best friend, according to yourdictionary.com, is "a person who you value above other friends in your life, someone you have fun with, someone you trust and someone in whom you confide." Yet, this group of friends would change that definition to; the people who you value spending your time with, the people you have fun with, the friends you trust and with whom you confide.

 

“Our friend group may look a little bit crazy and hectic sometimes, but I wouldn’t replace them for any other crazy people. They are all equally my best friends,” Babcock said.