SAT Essay: Do like people get along?

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. Common sense tells us that people tend to get along better with those who are like them, who think and act as they do. Many people, however, get along very well with people who are very different from them and may prefer to associate with those whose views and actions are different from their own. In fact, some people even complain that they are bored and irritated by those who are too much like them.

ASSIGNMENT:


Do people tend to get along better with people who are very different from them or with those who are like them? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

MY ESSAY:

People tend to get along better with like-minded people because they have more things in common. When you have things in common with someone else, it is easier to talk to them. This is often the building blocks of friendship.


One day at school, I met a girl with a Totoro backpack. Immediately, I knew she liked Manga and the film, My Neighbor Totoro. This was all I needed to start a conversation with her. By the end of our discussion, we knew we were destined to be friends. Had it not been for the fact that we had a love of Anime in common, I might not have spoken up and we might not have become friends.

On another occasion, I was attending a Youth Leadership Program and a girl came up to me because she said she liked my outfit. This started a conversation on fashion that eventually lead to other topics like school and blogging. Come to find out, she was also homeschooled and had a very successful blog on the Internet, which interested me because I was just getting ready to start mine.

While it may not be necessary to be friends with people who have other interests, it does make those initial awkward moments of introducing yourself easier to deal with.