“A friend in power is a friend lost.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement by Henry Brooks Adams? Support your ideas with reasoning and examples.

Like Henry Brooks Adams, I agree that a

friend

in

power

is a

friend

lost.

This

simple assertion reflects not only my personal experiences, but interactions between people in

power

both at

school

and in the business world. I experienced

this

hard truth twice in my life, once during high

school

and

then

again in the business world. Where I lost a

friend

due to their obtaining a

position

of authority. My best

friend

from elementary through middle

school

was Jessica, the two of us were inseparable, we studied, played and worked together for seven years. At that time, I thought we had developed a life- long friendship, yet I was wrong. Our relationship changed once we entered high

school

and Jessica became the chairman of the student association. I remember when Jessica won the chairman

position

, and I planned a celebration party for her.

However

, she didn't come to the party. For the

next

few days, I felt that her attitude towards me had changed. I tried to be proactive and invited her to our usual activities, yet she always found some excuse to reject my invitation. At that time, I didn't understand what had changed in our relationship other than she became a chairman. Jessica became more distant towards me till I

finally

realized she no longer wanted to be friends. Her leadership

position

had her associate with a new group of friends leaving the old ones behind. Losing a

friend

does not only happen in

s

chool but

Accept comma addition

school, but

also

in the business world when a colleague rises to a

position

of

power

and responsibility. Ten years ago, I worked a part-time job at a retail

store

. There were eight staff members on one team with one supervisor. I enjoyed working at the

store

because I made many friends including Amy. Amy and I shared many similar characteristics, and we helped each other out on the sales floor. One day, Amy was promoted to assistant supervisor. After her promotion, Amy began to use her supervisory

power

to m

anipulate

Accept comma addition

manipulate, store

store

policies,

such

as new scheduling and break policies. She created rules, which only benefited her without considering the other staff members’ perspectives.

As a result

, I felt extremely a

versive

(usually followed by 'to') strongly opposed

averse

to her attitude and shortly

thereafter

I resigned from the retail

store

. Our friendship suffered because she was now my supervisor and not my colleague. Based on these two experiences, I firmly believe that a

friend

in

power

is indeed a

friend

lost. I learned from these two experiences that no matter how strong you think your friendship is with the other person, all can change once they obtain a

position

of

power

.