Communication by: Michael Grace Helley

Michael Helley is a student guest blogger born in New Bedford and raised in Fall River. He enjoys Dungeons & Dragons, gaming, and community activism, and is excited to share his first blog with The Katie Brown Educational Program, of which he has been a part since fourth grade. Michael is a firm believer in its mission and programming.

Communication is the ground base for healthy and strong relationships. This can be both romantic and platonic friendships. This is coming from someone who has completely shut down and refused to talk with my own family about my issues. Without communication, it is difficult to understand each other, and resentment can build up. I have experienced multiple friendships and relationships that have ended because either the other person or I refused to communicate properly.

In middle school, I had difficult times communicating to my friends about things that bothered me or behavior I didn’t agree with. This led to multiple friendships falling apart because of the lack of communication. As a sophomore in high school, I now understand more than I knew in the past. I’m able to talk to my mentors about my issues, talk to my friends about issues, and come up with solutions to fix problems or generally talk about feelings.