From childhood to adulthood, there is at least one person to whom we are close — our best friend! We know everything about them, from their likes to their dislikes, but ironically, many people are unfamiliar with ‘Best Friends’ Day,’  a newly created holiday that emerged from an online hashtag that recently gained popularity. Friendship Day, a similar holiday, is typically on the first Sunday of August. “I thought these two events were actually one, so it’s surprising that there are two days, and most people do not even know about any one of these days,” said Kristina Tan ’19. Most people are reminded of National Best Friends’ Day when they go on social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, and see posts with the hashtag #nationalbestfriendsday. Snapchat has best friends filters and stickers and most people find out about this day when they play around with the filters.

Even if you don’t celebrate Best Friends’ Day, remember to show your friends that you appreciate them!

Some people go above and beyond when they celebrate. Eshika Badrul ’19 likes to buy multiple presents for her best friend Joy Lin ’19. She prefers to buy small meaningful gifts rather than big, expensive gifts. “Expensive things are meaningless. Their sole purpose is to show off. If I want to show my appreciation to someone, I would rather buy something with deeper value than something with a bigger price tag,” said Badrul. The two also like to go out when they have time to just talk and relax. Moitrayee Dasgupta ’19 likes to show off her best friends by posting pictures of them on social media. “It is important for more people to celebrate Best Friends’ Day, because in between our hectic lives, it is our friends who keep us going. I rely on my friends for everything, so I think one day dedicated to them is really not enough,” said Dasgupta.

Other people prefer not to celebrate this day because they believe that best friends should not be celebrated once — you should always make your best friend feel special. “It’s superficial to have one day for a friend who always has your back,” said Phillip Kim ’20. Kim likes to make his best friend feel special often and not just on one day. He likes being there for his friend when they’re feeling down. “It is the small actions that count, so I would rather do the small things that mean a lot to my friend rather than something big that would just show off,” said Kim.

While Best Friends’ Day seems like a good-intentioned holiday, it is important to remember that we should not be preoccupied with showing off our friends on social media over truly showing them appreciation. “It is good to have appreciation posts on social media, but their intentions may not be as pure,” said Christy Tai ’20. It is ironic when people have appreciation posts when the person the post is intended for does not even have that social media app. We post about our siblings and friends when they are not even seeing it, so why do we do it? “At the end of the day, we are human and we like showing off,” said Tai.

In a school like Bronx Science, we are always busy, but we do not really acknowledge the small things in our life. We are always fretting about tests and projects, but many do not even think for a second about the people who make it possible. For this reason, even if you don’t celebrate Best Friends’ Day, remember to show your friends that you appreciate them!