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Breaking The Box Research Paper

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Breaking the Box I was never a timid child. On the playground, I found joy in striking up dialogues with the parents of other children. As I entered kindergarten, my love for conversation intensified, and I befriended everyone I met. The invisible box of my comfort zone spanned entire classrooms by the time I reached second grade, and I desired to expand it further. Unfortunately, I would not have this opportunity.
It was November when my family gathered for an unpleasant conversation. My parents explained that after Christmas, we would move from Willoughby, Ohio to Spokane, Washington: 2150 miles. At seven, I only understood that this meant I wouldn’t see my friends, and that was enough to trigger a month-long tantrum. Despite my desperate entreaties to my parents, a month later we packed our lives into boxes and shipped out to an alien world.
When we arrived, my expectations of a foreign land were exceeded; I had never seen an environment so vivacious, and to my surprise, I was elated. This joy was ephemeral. After a few months, I became depressed due to intense loneliness. In my new classroom, I made not a single acquaintance. Instead, I retreated into books and discovered my veneration of language.
My stint in captivity was brief. After six months, my family returned home, but I …show more content…

I realized that I had never recovered from Spokane, and I spent sixth grade trying to repaint the mask. Somehow, it was never as immaculate as it was the first time. Underneath, I saw the lack of confidence, the fear of the unknown that I thought I had abandoned. It was with this troubled mindset that I went into a meeting in May nearly identical to the one I had had a year earlier. They posed the question: do you want to skip seventh grade? I resisted the urge to run from the room. I forced myself to think about it, requesting a week to gather my

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