Running Head: INFORMATIVE ESSAY

Informative Essay: My Influential Person

Rachel Kiczuk
University of Kentucky

Authors Note
Rachel Kiczuk, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky.
Rachel Kiczuk is in pursuit of a Bachelors Degree in Equine Science and Management at
the University of Kentucky.
This paper is for CIS 110: Composition and Communication at the University of
Kentucky with Mrs. Tabitha Dial.
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Rachel Kiczuk, University
of Kentucky. Email: rachel.kiczuk@uky.edu

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Abstract

An influential person does not have to be older than you. My best friend Katherine, who
is younger than myself, is who I chose as my influential person. Through our working together
and becoming friends, I have learned a lot and developed my personal identity. I have found new
likes and interests while spending so much time with her. As we moved apart for college, I
realized how strong our relationship is. She has helped me make choices that not only shaped my
life years ago, but also shape my future. This paper discusses the psychology behind friendship
and how having peers during adolescence is key for teenagers.
Keywords: influence, psychology, personal identity

INFORMATIVE ESSAY

When I first think of influential people, I always assume whomever I pick needs to be
older than myself. It was not until I was discussing who the most influential person in my life is
with my best friend that I realized they were right in front of me. Being influential to someone
does not mean that person is shaping your future, it simply means the influencers opinion
matters the most. For me, my best friend Katherine is someone who I will always turn to if I
need help in my life. Even since the beginning of our friendship, she has influenced my life in a
dramatic way. An influential person does not have to be older than you, they have just greatly
impacted your current life and helped to shape your future.
I clearly remember the first time I met Katherine. I was standing in the grooming area of
the stable I had just moved my horse to, and as we were introduced, I remember thinking that I
would never be friends with her. Six months later we were practically inseparable. It is a
common feature of friendships for the two people to not realize when they transitioned from
acquaintances to friends (Spreacher & Guynn, 2009). The same was true for Katherine and me. I
recall seeing her around the barn all the time, and at some point in the next few weeks after I had
first arrived at the barn we began walking our horses together. This is an example of a closed
field friendship initiation (Spreacher & Guynn, 2009). Katherine was one of only three girls my
age at the barn, so we naturally spoke to one another since we also shared the common interest of
horses.
Due to the fact that we boarded at the same barn, we ended up going to the same events
together. The proximity in which two people are of each other on a daily basis also influences if
they become friends or not (Spreacher & Guynn, 2009). Katherine and I spent many hours
together in the cab of the truck going to events, which forced an interaction between us and
strengthened our friendship. According to Haugen, Risch, and Welsh (2003), as kids get older

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they naturally spend more time away from their parents and with their peers. This comes from a
persons natural desire to become more independent as they get older. In their teenage years this
urge is strongest; this time in a persons life also collates with when they make friends the
easiest. The outlying world has a great impact on who teenagers associate with during this time
of their lives. What high school they attend, what country they live in, and even their political
views have an influence on who they will associate with freely.
The patterning of friendships more generally, whether or not they approach some
idealized model, will be shaped by the forms of social life that are emergent at the time (Allen
& Adams, 2006). I firmly believe that if I had met Katherine anywhere other than the barn we
both stabled at, we never would have become friends. On the outside, she was not the type of
person with whom I used to associate myself. Through our forced time together, we both came to
realize how similar we truly are.
The more time someone spends with their peers, the more influential those peers become.
This development of peer groups is essential in kids becoming self-aware and developing their
own identity (Allen & Adams, 2006). A major example of this I see in my own life is how
Katherines slight obsessive compulsive behavior has rubbed off on me. At first, her need for
things to always be put away and have a place was something that I found irking. I did not see a
need for it, but eventually I found myself enjoying the mundane task of putting things away in a
proper place. If an object did not have a place to go, or that spot became cluttered, it bothered
me. Katherine influenced me to become more organized and have a standard of cleanliness in
which I like things to be kept. I developed my identity further by being friends with Katherine.
As we became more comfortable together, those little comments that I made inside my head
began to come out aloud. To my surprise, she laughed a lot. Before I had never considered

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myself to be a funny person, but Katherine made me realize that to some people I am funny.
And I found that I enjoyed making people laugh. Three years after we first met, and people like
to tease us both that we share a telepathic connection.
Relationships have two types of communication: verbal and nonverbal. A major
component of verbal speaking is pragmatic meaning. Pragmatic meaning is the meaning of a
sentence that two people understand between one another (Verderber & Verderber, 2013). The
pragmatic meaning between Katherine and I is very strong. We can work together in silence and
get everything done efficiently. We know each other so well that when we go to restaurants we
ask the other what we would like on the menu. Pragmatic meaning can also lead into nonverbal
communication. This is when words are not used to communicate with someone, rather the
person conveying the message uses gestures, facial expressions, or their posture to get their
intended message across (Verderber & Verderber, 2013).
Whether it be in a riding lesson or simply getting into the truck, Katherine and I can
speak very effectively via nonverbal means. When we are asked who is going to jump first in a
lesson we just have to glance at one another to decide. Also when we get into the farm truck we
have a silent agreement that we alternate who gets the front seat. Both working together and
spending time together in our free time greatly influenced my current life and my future.
According to Haugen, Risch, and Welsh (2003) it is a natural observation that
adolescences consult with their peers before coming to a conclusion on what choice to make.
When going through the college selectin process, Katherine was someone who I talked my
options over with in great detail. She made very strong points on why I need to go to college,
something I did not really want to do, as well as why coming to the University of Kentucky
would be a good choice. She helped me with this all while knowing that she did not want to

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come to Kentucky. While we would be separated from one another, she still had what was best
for me in mind. Conversely I supported her choice to move to Washington State to attend the
University of Pugent Sound. This significant change in both our lives has made me aware of just
how strong our friendship is. This phenomenon happens with any relationship after a significant
event occurs in one of the parties lives (Allen & Adams, 2006). Katherine and I speak to one
another at least twice a week over the phone or via facetime. I have even caught myself texting
her a few times to ask what she would like from Starbucks, something I always did when I went
to the coffee shop back home, before remembering that she is on the other side of the country.
We speak to one anther more often than we do our own families. In a study conducted by
Haugen, Risch, and Welsh (2003) he found that adolescents who do not have a close-knit family
tend to have stronger friendship relationships.
I have never considered myself to come from a very close-knit family. My father works
over an hour away from home, and so I only see him a couple of hours a day. I was always gone
for most of the day, going to the barn right from school and only getting home to eat dinner,
complete my homework, and then go to sleep. While at the barn, I spent time with Katherine. We
would ride horses at the same time, clean tack together, and then most nights we ended up going
out to dinner before we both drove home. Spending so much time together, we naturally
influenced one another. Her talent in riding horses inspired me work harder in becoming a better
rider myself. Haugen, Risch, and Welsh (2003) state that Adolescents choose friends who have
characteristics or talents that they admire, which motivates them to achieve and act as their
friends act. The transition of becoming more like one another over the years happened
subconsciously between us. At one point while I was at work, a lady pointed out how often I say
Its fine when a situation goes awry; the statement is one that Katherine says multiple times a

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day. Katherine and I even dress the same, mostly due to the fact that we both acquired clothes
from the same people, but we would often show up to work dressed almost identically.
My relationship with Katherine is one that came unexpected to me. I would have never
thought when we met almost four years ago that we would become best friends. We have been
through a lot together, from tough times in school to supporting a mutual friend as her horse had
to be euthanized. She has influenced me to become a more organized person and to think through
my actions more so than I did before I met her. Katherine has helped me develop a strong work
ethic as well as help me realize that I want to work in the equine industry for the rest of my life.
We finish each others sentences, sometimes quite literally, and do almost everything together.
The over a thousand mile distance we have put between ourselves has only made us realize how
close we truly are. Despite the fact that she is younger than myself, I consider her to be the most
influential person in my life. She does not have decades of experience or hundreds of
connections I can utilize. While she inspires me to work harder, she has done something far more
valuable than make me a harder worker. She helped me discover who I am and who I want to be
as a person, and I believe that is what it means to be influential to someone.

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