Friendships are formed through struggle

The art course I’m taking right now is very difficult.  There’s a lot of homework and time spent on each project.  Mistakes are easily made and a restart is often required.  The thing I’ve noticed though is that the people in my class have bonded in a way that I haven’t bonded with kids in my other classes.  Yes, I’m friends with people in all my classes, but I have a different sort of connection with the people in my art class.  Perhaps it’s because everyone, except for one other girl, is an upperclassman.  But my guess is that it’s because we’ve bonded through the struggle.  

I’m finding that the most genuine friendships are formed through classes where everyone struggles.  We end up bonding through the struggle together.  Last week, my teacher asked that we all finished our products.  People in my class were spending hours in the computer lab working on Sunday, and yet, none of us finished by the deadline.  We talk amongst ourselves about how to make certain products, we helped each other print/laser cut things, and we also talk about how many times we had to restart the project.  It’s an oddly supportive feeling when I tell my teacher I have to start over, but other people join me in saying they need to start over as well.  That’s when I feel I’m not the only person who has messed up.  I’m not the only person who needs to start over.  I think the truest friends one forms are through struggles.  It’s a time where we are forced to reach out and assist one another, rather than just admire each other’s individual success.  In this art class, I’m realizing how we succeed together.