There are times in your life when you learn something from a situation that you never thought would help you to grow or change at all. I have had a couple of these experiences in my own life and I really feel that they've shaped the person that I am today. When you lose a loved one it really changes how you see and feel about life. It makes you realize how short life can be and how you shouldn't take it for granted. The death of my friend Nate made me realize how truly short life can be, that I should never take life for granted, and that even the most harmless situations can be hazardous.
             Nate was the kid in high school that everybody loved. He was a varsity wrestler on a team that always won state, a good student, and a hardcore partier. If something was going on, Nate knew about it. He was that guy that everyone turned to in their time of need. The aspect of Nate's personality that inspired me most was his willingness to listen and talk to others without judgment. There was no one in our school that Nate didn't know or wasn't friends with. He worked with youth wrestling as well to help younger kids become better wrestlers. He always gave back to the wrestling program what he got out of it and was never afraid to work hard to get what he wanted.
             The one aspect of Nate's personality that scared me the most were his party habits. It became increasingly worse when he became a senior; it was like every night was a party. He started doing drugs; just smoking pot at first, like plenty of other kids did too. Then it got worse. He got into Coke, Vicodin, prescription pills; anything to get him high. He wasn't alone though. It wasn't a huge surprise to anyone that the wrestlers partied hard on the weekends, it was basically their reputation. They would smoke weed, drink beer, and snort coke. This didn't worry anyone because they were some of the hardest working guys we'd ever met. T...