A couple of years ago when I was in college, a friend of mine and I were catching up over drinks after I got off work. After a few topics of conversation went by, we eventually found ourselves on the topic of friendship. “Who else in Cru are you close to?” he asked. And as I went through the names of people I normally hang around with, I noticed that not very many of them belonged to the men of Cru. A few weeks ago, I went on a day trip to Santa Barbara with a small handful of some close (male) friends, and realized a stark contrast in the makeup of my friend group compared to what it was just a few years earlier. Recently, I’ve been feeling pretty introspective about the past couple of years of my life, more specifically about how the dynamics of my friend groups have changed over the years. Reflecting on my current and past friendships, I’ve begun to make sense of how I’ve approached certain relationships and why I thrived a little more easily in ones more than others.

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