A Contentious Friendship Anonymous

If you had walked into my freshman history class, you might have seen two girls arguing vehemently over a controversial topic - contemporary politics, world religion, you name it. You would have likely thought there was no possible way the two girls could be friends. My relationship with my friend Jess has a thorough history of disagreement. Our polar political views have led to zealous debates, but these arguments have opened my eyes to different opinions than my own and led me to rethink my own beliefs.

Jess is a tenacious liberal and I am a firm conservative. Moving to Boulder for high school, I realized I would have the unpopular opinion on many issues. Coming from a Catholic, all-girls middle school, I found myself defending my beliefs and trying to persuade others of my viewpoint only two weeks into freshman year.

My and Jess’s first debate was on abortion. We were sitting next to each other, but we were so passionate that we raised our voices to a level as if we were across the room from each other. Throughout the year, we continued to argue about different issues. I would often pick presentation topics that I knew she would object to, such as tax policy. Our teacher was always proud that after heated debates in class,...