Personal Narrative: Moving To A New City

I tried making new friends. It never really worked though. I guess I was just not ready. I didn't try. I did not want to try.

Having nothing to compare it to it seems like a giant new world. Thankfully I had some wonderful teachers that helped me on the path to success. In the second grade I left all of my friends behind and the security of the only school I had ever known to move to an American Military base in Germany. The classes were larger and the number of classes per grade far exceeded that of my last school. Like a soldier I marched on through third, fourth, and fifth grade; then to moving up to an even more impressive building for sixth, seventh and eighth grades. It seemed as though every day I met new people. I did find a close group of friends within my classes and enjoyed learning from very diverse teaching staff. My classes were filled with people from many different parts of the world; we could shade a United States map almost full with all the places everyone had lived. While it was educational and exciding it always seemed as I was on an amusement park ride just trying to hold on. It was the move just before the start of high school which brought me to Texas for the first time. With four options for high school my family and I did plenty of research deciding where to live. It seemed like a huge decision having options for first time in my life, with so many different things to consider. While other schools had a larger student body and a few more options for some

I believed it was going to be difficult to make new friends. I was not sure how they reacted to new people or how their personalities were. I also was not sure how to approach them. When I began to talk with my new classmates, I realized we have many common interests. Making new friends became easier for me overtime by simply finding common interests and being kind to others.

My sophomore year of high school got off to a rough start. After going to a small charter school my first year, I decided I wanted to go to a more traditional high school. But I soon realized that it was not the school for me. I transferred again, this time to the school my older sister was going to. It was a small arts school in the same district. My sister kept telling me how much she liked it there and how it was different from other schools.

One of the downfalls of moving so much was the fact that I had to switch schools every 3 to 6 months. That meant I was always the new kid, the one with no friends, the one no one eats lunch with and the one that always gets picked on and pushed around, you know that kind of crap. But this only bothered me for a little bit then I just grew thick skin.

Growing up was very difficult for me as a child. I had to experience living in a lot of different towns in southeast Iowa. When I was in the fifth grade my family decided to move once again, this time it was to Mount Pleasant, IA. When I found out that we were once again moving it really upset me. Our family’s relationship had always been complicated. I couldn’t tell you how many schools I have been to before Mount Pleasant. One of the most difficult parts about moving is trying to fit in and make new friends.

My student involvement on campus has given me the feeling of being more than just a number at UNCC. The idea of making friends was a big concern for me during my freshman year because of the size of the campus and student body. Fortunately, it was made easier once I stepped out my comfort zone and began to join a few organizations. By networking through organizations, I could find people who I shared similar interest with. I did not have pretend to be someone else, or fabricate stories to make myself sound interesting. By staying true to myself, I met wonderful people that I still talk to today. I even met one of my friends at The Example. Walking around campus is no longer lonesome or frightening because now I recognize people. Going to sports

As an eight year old I was shocked and angry at my dad for getting a job so far away for the people I cared for. Even with the the constant temper tantrums and pouty faces we still moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since we left when we did I got to start the my fourth grade school year as the new kid. Since it took me so long to find friends since i was so shy, I kept to myself early into

At age twelve, I left what I knew behind in Palo Alto, California to start a new life in Southern California. Change was not new to me. In Palo Alto, I was the new kid from Alabama. I had gone to a different middle school than every else and had to make new friends on my own. Despite this, I always found a way to adapt to my new surroundings. This time, even though there would be new people surrounding me, I thought it would be easier to make friends because of I was moving with in the same state.

As i was growing up my environment changed frequently every two years due to the fact that I was born into a military family. So we would move whenever it was time to move, but that never changed who i was. Moving became a strong habit that I had to get used to. Moving away from where I was borned and how I was raised. I was a country girl who was born in Portsmouth,Virginia but was raised in the country part of Suffolk,Virginia, where everyone was related and always happy to see you. Since I was raised in the country,I had to walk miles to our neighbors. And if we didn’t walk, then we would ride dirt bikes or four wheeler to meet up together. The older I became the further we would move. Which caused a huge impact in my life.

Any person that is new to a school or place can easily tell you that it comes with its problems. Everything you know and find comfort in is ripped away, removed, and then replaced with something new and unfamiliar. Okay yes, that was a tad on the extreme side. I myself recently relocated to Bainbridge Island after having lived my whole life in a beach town called Pacifica right under San Francisco. When I moved here I had to deal with many challenges. Some of most difficult things I had to overcome this school year were stepping outside of my comfort zone and meet new people, being placed in a spanish class a little out of my league, and switching living conditions.

Before entering my freshman year at Drexel, I attended a summer program at Drexel called Dragon Scholars. I was able to connect with four people, so I did not have the awkward first-day-experience where I pretended to be the friendliest person in the world to become friends with people on my floor. At the time, I thought coming into Drexel with close friends was a benefit, but I soon realized not having the awkward first-day-experience was a disadvantage. I became reliant on my four friends for social activities, so I did not see the need to build a

Even though I moved, I still went to the same school with my two sisters because we only moved down a couple houses. In my 11 years at St. Vincent Martyr School, I have made many friends and even lost some too. All the friends that I have lost have either moved schools or moved away. Because I have lost friends, I have been forced into making new friends and this taught me new social skills that I really needed.

Things changed a ton for me. I had to make a new friends, plus I was new to the town and everyone knew each other. I now can say I have a good amount of friends of all ages and I would like to say I am pretty well known in this town I now call

With my youngest sister, we settled in a house in another borough, Staten Island. This change was challenging for me. Growing up only knowing the Russian language, the people, and the culture, it was very tough to leave everything behind in my old city of Brooklyn with this move. When the move was complete, over time I fell out of touch with my old friends, my old school, and everything that was familiar to me