Why I Didn 't Make New Friends?

Growing up in Chicago, I attended a neighborhood school from preschool through first grade. Although it was an exceptional school for elementary kids, the education for middle school and high school students was not as adequate. Seeking a better place to raise their children, my parents were faced with a tough choice. When I was in 2nd grade, our family made the decision to move to the suburbs. On July 3rd, we all packed into our Honda minivan and drove 45 minutes to a new home in the town of Winnetka. Within my first year at Crow Island, my new school, I learned so many new things. I started playing the violin and speaking Spanish, neither of which were offered at my old school. I met my best friends that I'm still close with now. Over the

Growing up I lived in the small town of Duncan, Oklahoma; although, not nearly as small as the town I currently reside in. Throughout my adolescence, I attended Mark Twain Elementary School and as I was ending the third grade, my parents decided that we should move to Fox, Oklahoma to be closer to my grandparents. Moving would bring big changes my way such as a smaller school, living in the middle of nowhere, and new ways of entertainment. Living in the country has its pros and cons, but I can tell you the only thing I could think of the night we moved out there was the cons. Eventually, I had grown accustomed to the silence, lack of traffic, and having nothing to do. Looking back I feel that if we had not moved to the country then I would

I was a very shy kid. Making friends wasn’t my cup of tea when I was younger. Based on this you can imagine how nervous I was when we moved. Joseph Campbell wrote in The Hero With a Thousand Faces, “It is only when a man tames his own demons that he becomes the king of himself if not of the world.” I was preparing to start school again in August when I decided it would be smart to begin associating with kids my age in the area; so, I began spending time with my cousin Lief. After spending some time with Lief, he introduced me to some of his friends and taught me to how to appreciate

The decision to leave my hometown, has been a definite turning point in my life, showing me what it means to live in a diverse society vs. the narrow minded, sheltered existence that I was raised in.

Now, here I am, a junior at Mineola High School, and I feel ready for whatever will come after high school. As I try to figure out what I want to do with my future, I now know how much I love travelling and people and hope my career includes that. Moving helped me see my flaws and strengths. It helped me recognize that I am sometimes too diffident and circumspect. While in Mineola, I managed to ameliorate my social skills enough to be voted by my classmates as “Class Favorite” and have also joined activities I normally would have been too shy to take part

It was the year 2008, I had just graduated from St. Michael’s School located in Los Angeles, CA. This year was quite exhilarating for me also scary because I was going to attend an all-girls high school. Los Angeles was my birth place also a place where I called home. One day, I came home to hearing my parents talking about moving to Mississippi. I remained devastated, not only we were moving to the south, I’m moving away from childhood friends. I was worried I wouldn’t see them again and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make new friends in Mississippi.

Canton, Georgia was the city where I was raised from the time I was seven years old. The quiet neighborhood was where most of my friendships were developed. The majority of my friends rarely left Canton. We attended the same elementary, middle and high schools and played on the same sports teams. My upbringing is what most would consider a normal, American childhood. During the summer before my sophomore year in high school, we were given the opportunity to move to the city of Chicago for one year due to my father’s job which required relocation. That August we moved to Lincoln Park, a neighborhood in the city. Moving to Chicago was a new opportunity to live in a metropolitan city. Since I never lived outside of the suburbs, I was not sure what to expect. Jones College Prep, a highly

Kansas City born and raised in rural Indiana, I did not live and grow up in the same house as most kids around here do. I’ve moved twice in my lifetime and couldn’t be more grateful that we did. My family has made southern Indiana our home now for the last 15 years. I’ve played multiple sports here and with each sport I made more and more friends. When I go back to the city I was born in, I think about how different my life would’ve been if my parents hadn’t decided to move. I would have never gotten the chance to wake up and be surrounded by corn fields every day. I would never have been able to ride fourwheelers in my backyard, mow grass on a riding-mower, or even have a garden. There is privacy here, whereas neighbors in the city can see

I was going to Brentwood Middle School when I got the news. I was just starting to find my friend group. Then I was told I would be transferring to a new group of schools. I would be moving 20 minutes down the road into a little town called Nolensville. When I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I would have to transfer schools again after I finished my freshman year. During my sophomore year of high school, I began at Nolensville. This school and town have changed me in ways I never thought it would.

Growing up in a county where kids have everything handed to them and then moving to college, where people actually have to work for what they have, has been an immense change. The lifestyle and culture in New Jersey are very different than the lifestyles and culture found in Michigan as a whole. After coming to Holland, MI, I have found a few similarities between Hunterdon County, NJ, and Holland, MI. In general, Holland is a less extreme version of Hunterdon County. For NJ, everything's a competition, a game. Having to grow up in New Jersey has been both a blessing and a curse in my life. I have learned how to be strong and confident, yet, I have also seen what wealth and materials can turn someone into. My

Today marks 3 years of living in Cheyenne, 3 amazing years filled with incredible memories, many tears and unforgettable friendships. Usually around this time I would normally move to another state or even a different country, however this time it’s different I’m able to stay in the same vicinity. I have always been that person that use to dread socializing. When I moved to Cheyenne I was determined to not make the same mistake I have seem to make before in the past with a new location and new school. I physically put myself out there and forced myself to socialize, which was painfully hard at first, but totally worth it. I ended up participating in the Central Womens’ Soccer Program for the whole 3 years of my time at Central, and in that

In the summer before my first year of middle school, my family and I packed our bags and relocated in Dublin, Ohio. It’s a cozy and bustling suburb near the cities of central Ohio and the home to John Sells Middle School, a former institution I attended. Living in Dublin was significant life event and shaped me into the person I am today.

     Once my family and I arrived at our new house I was still very saddened because of the move and had trouble not getting mad at my parents. Summer went bye like it wasn’t even there and by the time school started I was very depressed. The new school I was going to was Naperville North High School which was about ten times the size of my old school in Pennsylvania in size and in the number of students. In my school in Pennsylvania there were about twelve students in each class, here the number runs around thirty two. The school building was so big I had a lot of trouble getting to class on time let alone finding them in the building. The school wasn’t what I was bothered by the most because it was the fact that I didn’t have any social life and I was a social person. There were a lot of different groups of people at my new high school, it was tough for me to fit in and meet new people. Everyone just knew me as the new kid and didn’t even bother to find out what my real name was. The first

Starting fourth grade without my best friend is painful. A ten year old cannot possibly feel this much sadness, I think. Questions are running through my mind…“How many other classmates have moved? Will I know anyone in my classroom?...Who will want to play with me at recess?”. My fears are put to rest and I see other friends and acquaintances but in my heart, it is not the same. I am still without my best friend and she moved all the way to California from Illinois. “Where is California?”, I ask my mother. It might as well be on the moon. No more giggling, no more cutting out paper dolls, no more bike rides, no more walking to the park to play on the swings. No more, no more, no more! I cannot bear it.

Here comes high school. My friends and I from middle school all went to the same high school, and played volleyball once again. The only difference between us was when I was on the B team they were on the A-team, and when I was sitting on the bench they were playing. We got to high school and things didn’t change, they were on JV as a freshman, and little old me was still on the freshman team. I decided that for the next year they weren’t going to be better than I am. I worked so hard the summer going to my 10th grade year.