When making friends, it’s common to want to surround yourself with people who look, talk, and act like you. Friend groups often share many similarities with one another, and while this is normal, it’s important to also connect yourself with people who seem a lot different than you. The world is huge and jam-packed with lots of different cultures, religions, and stories. Everyone grows up in a different way, and it’s important that you are familiar with multiple kinds of people. Many people often grow up with a close-minded view of the world, thinking that everyone should look like them and believe in the same things as them. But that mindset is not realistic nor healthy. The reality of life is that once you go off to college or outside your small home town, you’re most likely going to be introduced to a very diverse group of people, and this shouldn’t be a shock to you. By connecting with lots of different kinds of people, you’re not only preparing yourself for the real world, but you could be changing your entire perspective on life. It’s common to fear change and the unknown, but there are some things in life that we all need to overcome. Watching movies and reading books is another great way to learn other people’s stories. By consuming media that includes characters with different cultures, situations, and values, you can become more empathetic as a person. Learning other people’s stories allows you to better understand what the people around you are going through. It’s easy to make quick assumptions about people based on just their looks or surface actions, but reading or watching media about others and their stories can help you become more understanding as a person. Humans are all so different from each other, and we should all try to be understanding of those around us. You never know what someone is going through or how they were brought up, which is why it’s so important to stay educated and open-minded about the people around you