Life can be chaotic. But friends, good, lasting friends, are like an anchor in the storm of life. No matter how high the waves get or how strong the winds blow, friends are there to keep you safe and steady. Seniors Connor Schwinkendorf and Dylan Matry are lucky enough to have found that anchoring friendship in each other.

“My favorite [thing about him] would be that Connor is someone that is always there for you,” Dylan said, “regardless of whatever you’re going through or whatever he’s going through. He, often times, puts other people first before himself.”

In the midst of all the chaos that life has to offer, the new opportunities in the everchanging stage of high school, Connor and Dylan have figured out that their bond as friends has been beneficial to their growth as individuals. Especially as they unfold to be the people they are becoming.

“High school is where you grow up– where you have so many of your firsts,” Connor said. “You become so mature in high school, and I think it’s important to keep those people that were important to you from this period in your life close because they mean so much. They’re such an important part of who you are 20 years from now. That doesn’t mean you have to have the same best friends through your whole life, but I would feel disappointed if I realized 20 years from now that I haven’t talked to Dylan in five years.”

With friends changing left and right, Dylan and Connor have found their friendship stronger as high school has progressed. With all the ups and downs of high school, Dylan and Connor have been there for each other, allowing one another to be the others guiding hand.

“Through high school, people are going to meet so many kids that they spend maybe a month or a year with because they were in a biology class and kind of hit it off, but sophomore year they won’t… or whatever,” Connor said. “But Dylan has always been a fantastic friend to me for four years in high school. I think that’s really rare looking at past friendships I’ve had that have come and gone.”

We change a lot from that first day of freshman year to the last one of our senior year. And oftentimes as we change our friendships change too. It’s a rare treat to find the friend that fits who you are from beginning to end. But that’s just what Connor and Dylan found in each other.

“I think that as we’ve each grown, we’ve both changed and matured,” Dylan said. “But I think we did it together. We have similar personalities as well as different personalities, so it helps us grow. Especially with high school, it’s good to have people in your life.”

Dylan and Connor first met at the beginning of their freshman year when they were in the same homecoming group. However, it wasn’t until that spring when they both made freshmen baseball that they really began to bond.

“We used to play baseball together,” Connor said. “We always kind of knew each other from homecoming and then baseball season started and we were on the same freshman team and we got really tight then. And then we stayed friends; we hung out in the summer. And then sophomore year it was the same thing. We hung out a lot and we got really tight JV year. He and I both would go out and hang out almost every single day in the summer. Go get ice cream, [and] we both really like going out to Grand Haven.”

As in most friendships, they have more than a few funny stories about each other and had no trouble recalling some of one another’s embarrassing and hilarious moments.

“There was one day at baseball where Dylan showed up late, and I devised a scheme so that we didn’t acknowledge Dylan. Our coach was all for it,” Connor said. “So Dylan played catch with himself for about 30 minutes until someone felt bad.”

Apparently playing catch with himself didn’t teach Dylan his lesson because he had more occurrences of being late, for which he had to suffer the consequences. In an effort to discourage Dylan’s frequent tardies, Coach Hartman devised a plan.

“Another time I remember I showed up late to baseball, and usually, we would run extra laps if we were late,” Dylan. “But because it was me that showed up late, [Coach Hartman] made the rest of the team run. So I was willing to run as well but Coach Hartman wouldn’t let me. Instead, I had to stand on the sidelines and yell “faster,” as the guys ran around. So I was getting a lot of dirty looks as they ran around.”

Through all of their activities and adventures together, Connor and Dylan, have discovered their purest trait as best friends; honesty. As it is said “honesty is the best policy.ai??i??

“I think a defining factor in whether or not you’re friends with someone is whether or not you can be honest with them,” Connor said. “I think it’s rare when you can find someone that can be straight up with you; who can tell you what they feel and who you can tell what you feel. I think that’s rare and that’s a really important quality in a friend.”

At the end of the day, the most value to a relationship is when you are there for each other in all of life. Through the ugly, through the pretty, and through the mundane moments. A best friend will be there with you through it all.

“Personally I think it’s just being there for someone throughout whatever they’re going through, whether it’s the good the bad, they just always stick around,” Dylan said. “Even when things are tough, they are always there for you.”