Middle School-Personal Narrative

From my experience, surviving middle school takes a mixture of luck, naive fearlessness, and an aggressive number of colorful plastic binders. I started my first day of fifth grade a jumbled mess of nerves, anxious about making friends and doing well in class, and inexplicably dressed head-to-toe in red, white, and blue swag my mom got when the Summer Olympics were in Atlanta. I mean, my backpack matched my shoelaces, which matched my pants and my shirt. I might have even had a hat. A hat. A precisely matching hat. That I wore all day. Needless to say, I was not a particularly cool child. I studied hard, had a core group of equally nerdy friends, and constantly worried about whether I was doing the right thing or, perhaps more accurately, becoming the right thing. Was I not studying hard enough to get into college? Or maybe studying too hard, missing out on my youth? Would I grow into my teeth one day? Would my skin eventually stop looking like greasy peanut brittle?

There's ups and there's downs, twists and turns lessons to be learned. A lost young boy trying to get through day by in a world that seemed a little bit too unfair. In middle school i didn't understand, i had no care in the world i thought I was invincible, no worries, no problem. I took my reality and turned into a dream to deal with the nightmares that haunted me at night. I just needed a second chance, i needed an awakening. Looking back on it now i wish i never taken the chances i had and opportunities granted.

In November, the air is cool and burns my face. The wind passes through my nose and it feels as if I am breathing in a thousand miniature razors. My finger tips and ears are numb. My right side aches where I had been elbowed in the ribs and my ankle from where I tripped just up the field. I hear my mom in the crowd, “Go, baby, go!” Even though, every muscle in my body screams for me to stop, I go. The pain does not bother me, neither does the cold. I am just happy to be here.

Middle school, when that word pops up in one’s head, it’s a sudden reminder of dreadfulness,broken promises,regrets,first crushes, and last but not least, learned lessons. Another morning had brought another school day. Seeing familiar faces and teachers I just wanted to get through the day with no trouble, but that’s not always the case. At least it wasn’t for me. Making my way through the extended halls and walls that seemed to enclose upon me, I felt nothing more than like a chained prisoner. The bell rung and I remained seated in my class, surrounded by boxed, outdated computers and rusty white walls, I felt helpless.

Middle school. The scariest place imaginable, at least for me. It’s my first time in a public school, all my life I have gone to California School for the deaf. I don’t know what everyone is going to think about me, i’m so scared but my mom tells me it’ll be good for me to experience the “real world”. It’s only me and my mom, my dad died when I was 6, he was in the marines. But it’s my first day of school and i’m really freaking out. But at least I will have my friend Emma, she lives one house away from me and were best friends. She’s not deaf, so at first it was hard for us to become friends. But one day she looked up on the internet how to say “Hi i’m Emma, let’s be friends” in sign language, and now we’re inseparable.

Sweat saturated every crease and contour of my hands as I neared the front of the lunch line. Inch by solemn inch, I crept closer—anxiety overwhelming me. What will they think of me? Will they laugh at me? Before I could muse their possible perceptions, I found myself at the end of the line.

I was at a Denny’s eating peanut butter pancakes when I decided what I wanted to do as a career. Basically my whole life in middle school was a galore of trips to museums and science centers that my parents put together. One specific time we went to the California Science Center where they house an old retired space shuttle used in the late 90’s and early 2000s, The Endeavor. When you enter this exhibit you see this vast piece of machinery that has been to space and then back on earth about 300 times. From then on, space was among my many interests that I had as a kid in middle school. It was such a life changing experience for me when that shuttle glistened in my eye.

Last week, I began my first initial year of middle school. I thought that my first day would be anything but challenging and stressful, But, it turns out that I was entirely wrong.

It was a crisp fall day in Colorado at my middle school, Lincoln Elementary. The leaves were beginning to change and fall from the trees as it was finally September. I felt them crush under my feet while I traveled up and down the pavement. The school’s recent addition of a new basketball court was a dream come true. I could smell the perfectly marked lines that were freshly painted on the court. My best friend Ryan and I often practiced shooting hoops at recess as we were both starters on our school’s basketball team. On this particular day, we were preparing for our first home game which was the next day. We had such an intense game of one on one that I completely lost track of time and did not hear our teacher blow her whistle to call our class inside.

I remember the first time I ever went to elementary school and I was scared out my mind. I really didn't want to go. I tried to run out but my uncle chip grabbed me before i could make it out the school. School was fun but I always wanted to stay home and chill.I didn't recall any favorite moments in elementary school.

One of my fondest memories of learning (though I was not very fond of this incident at the time) was of me trying and struggling to spell “bunny.” Not losing her patience, my mother helped me sound out the word and I eventually succeeded, only to mess up the spelling of “penny” completely.

Middle school was a mess. Puberty was punching me in the face. I was emotionally unstable (still am), awkward, clumsy, and lengthy. I wanted to fit in and be well liked. 6th grade year is comical now that I look back on it. 7th grade I was still struggling with school. 8th grade year was the year I started doing really well in school.

Throughout my time at school, English has been one of my favorite subjects. I was enrolled in an international, English speaking, school throughout elementary and middle school, and so I was lucky enough to have fantastic teachers who managed to make class fun and inspiring. In middle school we worked extensively with classical English literature, reading books like Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, A Catcher in the Rye and Romeo and Juliet. I still enjoy reading classical literature occasionaly, but unfortunately I no longer have as much time to read as I did when I was younger.

Ah, middle school. A time full of changes both emotional and physical, development of the search of who you are as a person (morals, values, passions, etc.). This time can be extremely confusing, ecspecially for a common transfer, such as myself. Based on the difficult transitions to three different schools in five years (Linden Waldorf, Franklin Road Academy, and Currey Ingram), I’ve never really had the “normal” experience for my schooling. Also, it’s always been very difficult to maintain friends due to my defensive tendencies while still maintaining consistant A’s and B’s. Now, I’m transferring for the fourth time and I’m sure I’ll transfer at least two more times before college. Through all these transitions and natural development throughout all four years, I have become much more confident, determined and self-motivated, and passionate in my life.

You’re not a little kid no more, I used to hear that all the time. That's when I was going to middle school. My first day was cool, I was nervous because this was my first time going to Euclid schools and I didn't know anybody in the school, It felt like I was outcast. However my teacher made it worse when she told me to come up to the front of the class in tell the class about myself. But after all that was over I met this was one kid, we became friends that day, till this day that's one of my closes friends. I didn't change at all just got a little smarter and wiser. The teachers in middle school was kinda hard on us, but most of the time they are the nicest people you would ever meet, it was always one teacher in the class, it was always one teacher in the classes, but itself this one math class it was two teachers in there, that was my favorite class.