In life, people come will come in and out of your life like the doorway to a restaurant. Some of these people will stay in your life, like the frequent customers that a worker will eventually learn to recognize. Other times, you’ll only see them once, like a customer that’s visiting on vacation. In Thi Bui’s Viet Weekend, we see the art of social connections and networking in play. Growing up, Thi’s friend went to Viet school with a childhood friend on the weekends, as her mother was busy at work. By attending this school, she made new friends that came from different schools, allowing for new connections to be made. Some of these connections were stronger than others, as she found her first love at this school. One unexpected connection that came to be was a yard duty that watched over the school. A scary old man that had a mole on his face. Thi’s friend moved a lot as a kid, and for one of these moves, she and her family needed a roommate for the house. After her mom put up an ad, they found someone. It was the old man from her viet school with the mole on his face. As the family and the man lived together, the connection they had grew as well, where he eventually became the godfather to the children.
Like with the old man and Thi’s friend, I find that the most unexpected encounters with people become the greatest friendships. My closest friends are perfect examples for this case. Going into high school, I didn’t have many friends. My school had feeder schools, which are schools that from which many or most students progress to a particular higher-level educational institution. I attended a small private school, so as a result, I didn’t know that many people as a new student. As a shy, introverted person, I didn’t really have any expectations of making a lot of friends and creating new connections. Of course I had a few friends that I knew from extracurriculars, but I was never really close to them. I couldn't really call that a true friendship. Nearing November of the school year, my unexpected friendship with my closest friends today emerged. I was playing a game called Brawl Stars at the end of the school day with one of my buddies, when someone asked who was Lotion209, which was my gamer tag for the game. After saying that was me, the encounter with each other was made and our friendship started to grow. We started calling after school to play games and this became a frequent thing. We grew a lot closer and I would have never expected for this friendship to take shape. These are people that I see myself staying friends with in the distant future as well.
The connections don’t just stop there. After becoming friends with people, often times you meet their friends as well, making the circle of friends grow larger. Again, that’s something I experienced in high school and my circle of friends have definitely grown since that first year. From this comes networking, if I were to talk on a more serious, professional standpoint. You’d be surprised with the people that your friends might know or are acquainted with. The phrase “I know a guy” just embodies this idea perfectly. By having special connections, you get an advantage to someone that does not have these same connections. A boss is more likely to hire someone their subordinate recommends, then someone they don’t have experience with. With that in mind, try to grow your circle. Create new connections, whether unexpected or on purpose. The benefits in store for you are just to great to pass up.