BY STEVEN KRUK

Ninth grade was a tough time of falling down or up the stairs repeatedly.

Every day, I received a new bruise. There was one staircase that had it in for me; every time I would walk down or up them, I would fall.

Halfway through the second month of school, I was going up those stairs, behind a group of grade 12s. Everything was going fine, watching every step.

But then my foot slipped, and there was no turning back.

Unexpected turnout

Falling onto my knees, I tossed my binder, paper flew everywhere. I automatically started to laugh to fill that awkward silence while quickly grabbing my papers.

Then, I noticed one of the grade 12 girls from the group was helping me.

She was laughing, not at me, but because she, too, would always fall up the stairs at school. I grabbed my binder and stood up. She handed my papers to me and we started to talk. We ended up having a lot in common and we became friends.

Looking for the best in every moment

The reason why we became friends was the awkward position we were put in when I fell up the stairs. I learned I can make friends in any circumstance, if it’s while I am falling up the stairs, or if I just sit beside someone in a class.

Awkwardness isn’t always bad; it can have great outcomes. Yes, it is awkward, because I might be the cause, or someone else might be, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t look for the best in that moment.

Most people don’t really know when they officially became friends with someone, while others know the exact moment when they meet their closest friend.

The majority of people meet people because of proximity; we were just at the same place at the same time, which is why we started to talk. Awkward situations can cause us to look for others to associate with. Just because a moment is awkward, it doesn’t mean that good things can’t come from it.

Once I become friends with someone, most of the time, I forget why the situation we met in was awkward.

Awkward situations can have positive outcomes, like making friends when you fall up the stairs.