Personal Narrative: Starting Seventh Grade In The United States

In the first few years, I was reserved. Because I only hung out with the people I knew and rarely stepped out of my comfort zone back in Florida, I acted the same way moving to Georgia. Making friends wasn’t important to me because I was used to being isolated. Going on to high school, I came to a realization that I needed to step out into the world. I knew that I couldn’t always depend on myself. I needed to make connections and branch out. I took my chances and joined clubs to help not only myself but others as well. High school was also the transition of my life where I started focusing on my grades. I started working harder and as the curriculum started to get more difficult, it only motivated me to be more diligent.

Coming to eighth grade on the first day was slightly scary for me. I was afraid that I wouldn’t have any friends on the same team as me and that I wouldn’t have a class with any friends. When I arrived to the homeroom, school didn’t start off as bad as I thought it would. Apparently I had more than one friend in my homeroom, which made things less awkward for the first time being in class.

I have always played the same three sports in elementary school, baseball, soccer and basketball but the summer before 7th grade I wanted the try something new and play football but because I didn't know much about it I was having a hard time deciding if I was going to play or not. But When football season came around i signed up.

Starting middle school was a mixture of anxiety and excitement. There was a brand new campus to explore, but we were also nervously anticipating the academic program that was about to begin. Most of my grade had been together since the age of four and by this time there were clear social divides. There were the girls who were seen as popular, and then there was everybody else. You could say that I was part of the popular crowd, though at the time I didn’t notice myself standing apart from the others. As a group of friends we got on well, we’d hang out, go to the cinema, have sleepovers, all the usual things friends do. Then things gradually started to change.

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?

Going into seventh grade my life began to change rapidly. I became incapable of enjoying fun times with my friends, the pain in my stomach was the only thing I could focus on. I had no idea what was wrong. Specialist after specialist hear my case and ran tests. Three years later the idea of an anxiety disorder began to be tossed around. I have since then been diagnosed. This is not another sob letter or success story. Every day I struggle and I let it define me from time to time. But it has changed the way I see the world. It is no longer a place of “can’t” but a world of open windows. People say the grass is greener on the other side, but the grass is softer where I am.

When I hear the word “survival”, I think of someone who has made it through the impossible or conquered a near death experience; but that isn't all that it means. According to the the Merriam Webster dictionary, “A survivor is a person who copes well with difficulties in their life.” Moving from elementary school to middle school taught me many new characteristics such as how to be more independent, responsible, and more open to changes.

I walked into my Barents room , I was so depressed because that day was my first day went to middle school in America. I spoke to my mother about what was going on that day.

The end of 8th grade. Alex and I had spent so much time together. We fought a lot though, we hated each other for some time but in an instant we told each other we loved one another and went on to spend lots of time together. This happened many times during 7th and 8th grade. We built a couple groups of people that we would hang out with. Alex and I had made at least 20 close friends that we could hang out with any lunch or brunch. We had grown to be so close, and at the end of eighth grade he told me that he was moving. I felt horrible. I had made lots of friends, but the one person that I spent every day with was him. Alex and I spent a lot of time together before he left. But then he had to leave. I was kind of lost, I had friends but no

Harry Potter, Junie B. Jones, Narnia, Lemony Snicket, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Goosebumps, Magic Tree House, and the Boxcar Children: Popular book series that most kids get into. I never did. Ever since school required mandatory reading, I perceived books as hassles. School effectively turned me off of reading for pleasure. Going into middle school, where students have regular book reports and summer reading, I faced a challenge. To make it by I had to learn to live with books, as they played an integral part to my career as a student. However, my current state of mind labeled reading a hassle and wanted nothing to do with it, necessitating change. Transitioning from elementary to middle school, I matured both physically and intellectually.

Finally entering middle school, In band we sat where ever. Christmas came and my first ever band concert, but our seating was already chosen for us that night without us knowing. There, walking towards the seat that have our names on it, with a smile on my face excited to play but my name was nowhere found in the front row. I went to the second row, nothing, and then the third where I found my name. I was last, the very last flute ensemble seat. As I sat, my throat become hard, my chest beating like it was angry, my face redder then red. I was not just angry but a word beyond furious, because I was last seat, it wasn’t fair, I remember practicing so hard and I didn’t even get to show what I got but then I was put last. Throughout middle school,

You never realize how much you can take until you can’t take it anymore. I came to this realization in the 7th grade at Penelope Middle School. Throughout my life, I’ve always been used in a way that seemed like friendship. In middle school, I was never the popular girl, but the popular girls did hang out with me and they made me feel as a part of their group. But all of me knew that they were using me for my knowledge and just school in general; they were bad influences on me. I took it, until one day I realized they were all bullies and I wanted better for myself before I became one too. I went about this in all the wrong ways. I was becoming the one thing I was trying to get away from.

As kids in elementary school, we can all admit we have done some dumb stuff. In my elementary school days, I experienced kids make bad mistakes every day. Throughout my seven years in elementary school, I witnessed kids bully, steal, and cheat. However, one day in 2008 I became aware that I was part of the rest of the people around me and that I had succeeded in doing something that now seems very childish.

The last nine years have gone by so fast. Watching my sister graduate back in 5th grade, I never thought this day would come. The only thing I was thinking about was when we would eat dinner that night. Now that this day is finally here, I can't believe it. I have had so much fun and made so many great memories here at St. Mary's. Walking into kindergarten with my parents to meet my teacher, I was nervous. I never thought I would make so many friends. Then, kindergarten was over and it was off to first grade. I had my own desk, and there was no nap time. After experiencing my first fire drill and growing bean plants by the window, it was time for second grade. In second grade, I made my first communion and I played an angel in the Christmas pageant. Then it was over, and my last year at the PGC began. Third grade was one of the best school years I had. I loved watching Because of Winn Dixie and reading books on Mrs. Wetherald's couch. Third grade went by in a flash, and my time at the PGC was over. I was very nervous to move to the UGC, but after the first week, I knew I was going to have a lot of fun. Gym class was so much different from the PGC, and I liked it a lot more. Fourth grade seemed to last forever, having fun with my friends and doing word searches while sitting in bean bags. However, all good things must come to an end.

My 6th Grade year was pretty good. I got pretty good grades, made some friends, and had lots of fun!