Hi,

I hope it isn’t inappropriate to post this here. But one of the reasons I decided to do what I’m about to ask for advice on is because I’m actually afraid to do it and I want to work through my fear. To elaborate, I’ve come to realize that for maybe half of my lifetime (I’m only 21 years old), I’ve been a coward in a sense. I grew up having been involved in may situations that made me feel like I wasn’t worthy of being loved or belonging, and though things have changed over time, I’ve carried those feelings with me deep inside. And I let that underlying belief (and lots of fear) get the better of me; I always held back from expressing myself, doing and saying the things I really wanted to do, and making decisions/taking risks that may have yielded many positive results in the end. I wanted to start changing things so that I don’t let my fears stop me, and over time I’d come to really see my own worth. Just to make sure you understand the relevance of what I just wrote, the subject of this post is deeply rooted in this desire to change the direction my life has taken. (On that note, if anyone would like additional clarification on what I’ve written here, just let me know in your response and I will try as best I can to provide it.)

I’m a college student who’s about to graduate this coming May. I’ve been going through a mental checklist of the things I want to do before I graduate, and one of those things is getting a gift for a good friend of mine. She means a lot to me in a number of ways, and I wanted to get her a gift that says it in some way. Although ideally, I’d also want the gift to be something she’d like, what I want most that the gift help serve to communicate how much I appreciate having her in my life (and I really appreciate it).
However, I don’t think I’m very good at getting people gifts (in fact I rarely do), and I’d like any advice and/or suggestions as to what kind of gifts might help serve its primary purpose (again, which is to help communicate how I feel). On that note, if there is no gift that will really say all I really want to say, then I would appreciate it if someone could confirm that to me. Whether that kind of gift exists or not, I’d really appreciate it if someone could help point me in the right direction.

I’m in the middle of Spring Break now, and I wanted to go to the mall at some point before break ends. But the malls around here are pretty much not within walking distance, I don’t have a car and I can’t drive. But I’ve asked some friends to help me get there. So if anyone could provide any helpful information within the next few days, that would be really great. And if not by the end of the week, then perhaps in the next two or three weeks maximum (again because I’m graduating in May and I may not see this friend ever again afterward, so I need time to prepare to work around other’s schedules).