Justin is the troublemaker. Grady is the cool one. Gordie is the shy one. Emilio is the smooth one. Alejandro is the smart one. Nate is the mediator. Brandon is the calm one. Brian is the athletic one. Michael is the interesting one.

Nowadays, it is a rare thing when a group of friends sticks together since kindergarten. Over the years, people tend to drift apart or meet new people and forget about the friends they’ve had for a long time. To have a group of friends stay together seems like something that would only happen in a cheesy Hollywood movie. But for Justin Galvan, Grady Brim, Gordie Burnett, Emilio Torres, Alejandro Cruz, Nathaniel Cardenas, Brian Walker, Michael Bishop, and Brandon Yu, it is anything but.

They all went to Kohl Elementary. They were placed in the same kindergarten class. Since they were the majority of the boys in the class, they were naturally led to talk to each other. Once they got to playing, there was no separating them.

“We always have arguments about who met each other first,” Cruz said.

As they reminisced on their childhood, you could see the energy bouncing off of them, revealing the characteristics they each contribute to the group. “I was chasing Alej,” Torres said. “It was an intense game of tag and he ran to the rock box and tripped and he fell face first. When he got up, he had a rock in the middle of his forehead.”

Although Burnett is the quiet one, when Torres told the story, you could see his expressions come to life as he bent forward and grabbed his stomach from the intense laughter. “I don’t know why I’m shy, but Grady and Nate introduced me to other people.”

They all help each other in any way they may need it. “When you spend a lot of time together, you get to know someone really well,” Torres said.

Since Kohl had such a small number of students, they all felt comfortable around each other. In an effort to branch out and become famous they made a series of web videos calling themselves “The Loozers.” “We were the gang that ran Kohl and we did stupid stuff and put our videos on YouTube,” Brim said. “We thought we were doing parkour (stunts), but I guess we weren’t.”

Most of the videos they made consisted of them free running. “We have a Christmas special where we were all standing on the wall and the eighth graders chucked the balls at us and we took it,” Brim said. “(These videos) made me who I am today.”

Now that senior year has come, they aren’t scared as to what will happen once they graduate. They’ve made it through a lot together. Cruz said, “Whether it’s the loss of a family member or a loss of a significant other, they’ll cheer you up.”

“We take it one day at a time,” Torres said. “We’ve done so many cool things and we’ll keep doing cool things as long as we’re friends.”

Galvan wishes they could go back and repeat their eighth grade year. “It was the first year we were all together since kindergarten.”

Eighth grade year is a memorable year for them, especially now that time has come to endeavor in a new chapter of their lives. Yu and Walker are both leaving for college next year. Seeing the reality of this statement hit, Yu shares, “I don’t think I’ll be closer to any group of people than my Kohl friends.”

As the reminiscing came to an end, they all agreed that although they might not be physically together next year, their friendship will not die.

“Every kid fits in a piece of the puzzle,” Galvan said. “It’s like taking apart the puzzle. With two pieces missing, we’re not complete.”