The Series: Top 10 People to Influence My LIFE! ... # 7

Brandon Zachary Johnson

aka

BZJ, BZ, Chris Carter, Brandon, The REALEST!

He's PHONY, she's FAKE … That's the type of people I HATE …

BZ is the REALEST Person I KNOW! Now, I’m not playing when I say this, I have known him for about 8 or 9 years and out of all of FRIENDS and people that I have interacted with he has changed the LEAST and “I Love Him” for that … Of Course he has Matured lol to an extent but he’s the same person I found climbing the tree on our front lawns with crisp khakis and a cherry red button up one day after school about 9 years ago …

Over the years our friendship has evolved but at one point we were like best friends, He used to live next door to me, and before he moved we were pretty close. As MOST of you may know WE both LOVE sports, Mainly Basketball, and Football … In Basketball we are UNDEFEATED we’d play random people in 2 on 2 and to this day we have a record that’s about 13 – 0. We took Pride in our Friendship and to made us play better. In Football we were equally dominant and his nickname was Chris Carter, and mines was Randy Moss back when we were young and virtually unstoppable.

I think its safe to say that lot of people have friends that act differently with different crowds, often they become more shy, or attempt to be funnier, either way this tends to make the interactions or general mood awkward. BZ never changes, his personality is the same with parents, but more respectful as it is with a group of his peers. He has taught me that you have to keep your identity and values consistent and that no one should have such an influence over you to make you change who you are.

When you mold to impress people you tend to become fake and the things that you do and the way that you live becomes a lie. Like my Mom always said, “If you don’t LIE you don’t have to remember ANYTHING b/c the truth will show itself eventually.” Being in college and interacting with thousands of people makes it hard to understand people sometimes and you really can’t tell whose genuine and who you can actually count on, BZ always serves as a reminder to me to do my best and be there for people and be the same Rashad that I was last semester. Living this way has helped me form great friendships and create a pretty big network so far.

I don’t believe that I LOSE friends, I think I have been blessed over the years and my network continues to grow, I couldn’t have done this as successfully without the example set by BZ. Life’s TOUGH, but in the END it’s ALL about Who You Know!

I want to thanks BZ for being there for me and always keeping it REAL no matter what the situation or circumstance, we’ve been through a lot in our lives and I can always count on him to be REAL and Honest when confronting a situation …

This makes it very easy for me to look to him in my times of need b/c he's a GREAT Friend ...

Thanks for Tuning In ...

Till next time ...

Shad Shaddy # 2 is OUT!