Oh god, where do I even start with J Chui.

The thing is, I became such good friends with Coppell High School senior Sidekick staff designer Jayden Chui this year by accident. When I walked into D115 this year, I knew that I was going to sit in the back right corner. I had taken self-proclaimed ownership of that seat on the first day, but then next class, it was stolen. After that, I was stuck sitting next to Jayden.

I make it seem like a bad thing, you know in many cases it might have been a bad thing, but in the majority of cases it wasn’t. The thing is we have very similar humor. Rarely could I find anyone to make random and sarcastic jokes with. But to me and J Chui, it was like a roast battle every single class.

However as goofy as Jayden is, one thing he knows for sure: business. Based on almost every conversation we had throughout the year, before his college decisions came out, I already knew this man was going to McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas.

The amount of times Jayden mentioned Blaze Pizza this year is beyond me. Not because it’s an amazing pizza chain (at least that wasn’t the primary reason), but because that was the topic of his International Career Development Conference qualifying DECA project.

Every time the subject of college would come up and he would ask me what major I wanted to do and where, he would not hesitate to let me know why I shouldn’t go to a certain school because statistically speaking, I wouldn’t make nearly as much money compared to if I graduated from another place. Jayden wouldn’t hold back to tell me the realistic things, the important things – the truth about money and its difficulties.

And although I listened, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t challenge his opinion most of the time. Sometimes I would mess around and argue it even if I agreed with it. But that’s when you know you’ve made a genuine friend, when you’re able to go from serious topics to witty banter all in one day.

It is also nice to have a buddy beside you that is smart. If I annoy him enough, he’ll always help me with page design, calculus, physics or which snack I should eat first during the period.

So thanks, J Chui, for every piece of warranted and unwarranted advice you’ve ever given me. I hope you never find someone able to make fun of you as good as me.