Only you know what's best for you and you've already decided what would work for you in the long run. If those friends can't support you in what you're doing then you are right for trying to ease yourself away from them. You're a very motivated person and you need others like that in your life. So far it just seems like those friends are just holding you back.

There's never an easy way to get rid of friends even if you have good reasoning. Honestly, it would probably be best if you talked to your best friend in person. Explain to her how you're feeling and tell her what you feel is going to be best for you. It will be hard on her and you should probably expect her to be upset, after all you two are best friends but you have to remember that it's you who you need to think about right now.

After talking to her about everything it would be best to just cut all contact. I don't really think you'll have a problem with that since you already have a busy schedule.

My best suggestion for you would be to try to become closer friends with the people on your team or the other freshman. Even if the girls on your team are older it doesn't mean you all can't be friends. We all need to have people there in our lives so you shouldn't just try to go on with volleyball and school without having some sort of social life. Just make sure you know how to balance everything. Don't put too much pressure on yourself because that's when things will really get rough. As I said, you can always make new friends or become better friends with people you already know. You know what you're doing with your life right now and you should try to find friends who are just as motivated from now on. You don't need people who are deliberately going to question what you're doing. You seem to be a very independent person and you may need those type of friends as well. Just remember that you can't do everything by yourself, cutting her out of your life might be good but that doesn't mean you should always do this with people. Good luck.

Posted at 4:58 pm on Nov. 7, 2009

I'm still in the same situation sometimes grade wise so I know how you feel about friends not understanding your struggles and having to work for grades when they have an easier balance. You shouldn't have to constantly explain yourself about this really more than once cause as a friend, compromise and understanding should be made about situations. Like you said, this isn't the best group to be a part of as they don't really like to do things you like to do. When you get older you'll realize that this whole changing of the guard in terms of friends will happen even more than you think. A lot of your friends right now probably won't be friends with you two years from now.

You don't have to worry about being friendless you know. I'm sure your school has try-outs, and being a part of the team you could convince people who want to play volleyball but haven't went out for it to go for it. That could always bring you in new friends. That and the people you compete against, despite you two being rivals, might even want to be friends as well, believe it or not. It happens pretty frequently as you get older. Great competitors make great friends, I know this from experience. In short, don't worry about drifting away from your friends. You're already going one way, them another, so it's only a natural progression for you guys to possibly drift apart :)

I hope that helped

Posted at 10:57 am on Nov. 7, 2009