Personal Narrative: The End Of 8th Grade

Before the first grade, we moved around a few times before ending up here in Sylvania. As a child, both my parents worked full time jobs and I was always at after school day cares or at my grandparents houses, never really got to spend a lot of time with friends or was able to socialize with many people. So growing up most of my time was spent with my brother and I thought nothing of it. As I grew up I began to realize that I had become stuck in some bad habits. My brother and I weren't asked to help around the house much but when we were we never listened. But to my surprise there were no consequences for our disobedience. At the time I thought I had it good. Around the time I got too middle school I began to realize the problem. I began

Ah, Junior High. Those awkward years between sixth and ninth grade when I had no earthly idea what to do with myself. I remember them well. I had to get used to being in a school that wasn’t an elementary school, the way older kids were acting, and how things were in my new school.

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.

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.

“Jovanie, I’m going to have to let you go,” my coach said to me in a nonchalant voice. My stomach started twisting in a million knots and I felt my eyes watering, but I was not going to let them fall… yet. “Not here, not now” I reassured myself. I slowly walked off the bus trying to act unbothered, but I was. Everybody that knew me understood what track was to me. However, starting off in a different school as a freshman, where nobody knew me was hard. I had to prove to them that I was a good runner, but I have failed.

Seventh grade started off well for me, as most school years did. There was the usual getting used to schedules, teachers, and so on, which always took effect, and then adjusting to who you’re in class with. Well, this and I began my third year of scouting, along with a few of my friends. This allowed us to go camping with each other often, and I enjoyed it very much. All of this held true until around December, so about ⅓ of the way through the school year. This was when my grandpa was sent into the hospital again from a heart problem that he had. When I say “again” I don’t mean that anything had happened too recently, but he did he stay there the previous January before seventh grade. At first, no one in my family worried, but quickly were doubting our initial thoughts. The reason he had relapsed from his previous recovery of the heart condition is because he had taken pills that doctors had told him he would have to take for the rest of his life. This was problematic to him because he had never taken pills for a prolonged period of time before, so after roughly ten months he stopped taking them. He thought he could, even though it went against the doctor's orders, just

Seventh grade sucked. Back when I was in the Junior High, I had to move schools from sixth to seventh grade. I started sixth grade in a private school, but near the end my parents decided it was to time to go to a public school. I entered the Junior high for my seventh grade, which is where my story begins. It was the first day of seventh grade and I was very nervous. For one thing, rumours of excessive bullying and harassment plagued the school according to those who went to my old private school. I was ready for anything. I had received all of my materials including notebooks, binders, and pencils and I brought them in two nice plastic bags as I walked into the school where I would spend the next two years of my school life.

My 9th grade year was a memory to never forget. 9th grade, i was new to the school just like the rest of the freshmen's i came into the school with, we were not really focused on the education we were more so focused on having fun and seeing different and older people and just experiencing the life of a high schooler. As bad as that may sound it was the truth but that was the year i meant my home boys Block, Tick and Jalen, i knew block and tick for some years already but i meant jalen when i got to high school and instantly we became close like brothers.

At LAST, thank God I am a senior! My 9th-11th grade years were very tough and unsuccessful for me. I was tested in many ways and felt as if I was failing tremendously, I didn’t think there was much hope for me. So I decided that I was going to make the change I wanted to see, my mindset entering the 12th grade was to focus on nothing but the things that benefited me best and I’ve done just that. High School had plenty highs and many more lows, but I must admit senior year was the best year of all.

throughout my 9th grade experience it had many ups and downs it was basically an emotion rollercoaster because I didn’t honestly know what I wanted to do with myself I had a great work ethic I always tried my hardest and I was very responsible with my school and I acted mature I acted my age but I wasn’t hanging out with the best kids. For example, I hung out with good kids on my football team. But I also hung out kids from Collins who didn’t take school seriously who were just stoners that convinced me sell and smoke and do stupid crimes which affected me emotionally. My conscious always kept eating and beating me so eventually I went into a deep depression that took me a few months to escape. Eventho throughout all stupid things I’ve done

My first day of eighth grade was a reassuring experience. Immediately after I was assigned my college I was worried I was placed in the average class, but as I stood quietly in line I noticed familiar bright students. My first class was english with Mrs. Brisko who told us two truths I can’t remember the lie and one of the truths even though it’s only been two days. One of her truths was that she loved country music. She then asked us to do the same with the three or four people around us. Since we were all a bit shy we wasted the entire time thinking about what to say. Once that was over Mrs. Brisko asked us what rules keep a classroom running smoothly. In the end we came up with a few rules, responsibility and respect. It was almost time to

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.

I do not know many people who look back to middle school and view it as the time of their life. For me, middle school consisted of frizzy hair, braces, and figuring out how to get out of the mile during eighth period gym. Compared to the other kids, I could be categorized as a “late bloomer”, and held onto my innocence for as long as I could. I did not disturb the status quo of things, and did everything I could to avoid confrontation. I did as I was told and did not question authority. I believe this can be contributed to the fact that I was still trying to figure out who I was, what I believe in, and had yet to come into my own. Confidence was something I lacked and I truly admired those who had it. It was not until a choir rehearsal in eighth grade that my view of myself changed.

This was it, my last year of middle school. Just three months until the first day of school, and I was spending it hunkered down on the itchy brown couch. I needed to keep myself engrossed in something. I pondered this predicament for quite some time, as I gazed mesmerized by the television. All of the sudden a dog food advertisement appeared on the screen. I was just about to change the channel when I saw it… a puppy, not just any puppy, It was a baby Great Dane. Grey with little black speckles protruding from it’s soft hide.