Personal Narrative: Moving To A Public School

On August 13th, 2016 my family and I started a new life. We were forced to relocate from Southern California to Prosper, Texas for my dad’s job. When I moved I knew absolutely no one. It was extremely hard to move away from my people that I have been friends with for almost my whole life. It was even harder to say goodbye to my grandma and my brothers. Finding new friends and adjusting to a new city in a new state was very difficult. On the first day of school, I was extremely nervous, because I didn’t know anyone.

I moved to Crawford my 7th grade year. I attended Crawford Middle School that year. That year went by exceptionally well, but the next year the school closed for 7th and 8th graders, so I had to join Hotchkiss Middle School. I found the Hotchkiss kids very welcoming, and friendly. I instantly became friends with almost all of them. There was just something so welcoming about that school from the friendly teachers who all cared very deeply about each individual student. The happy and friendly attitude wasn’t just at the school, it seemed everyone everywhere was just so happy to be in a beautiful place. Hotchkiss has always been a home for me from that day on because of the welcoming attitudes.

I use to go to Bethesda Elementary before I moved here. The reason I moved was because I would go to Thomas. H. Pyle Middle School while the kids at BE would go to Westland Middle School. If I continued going to BE in sixth grade when I moved to Pyle I would not know anyone. The reason I moved to Bradley Hills, and not any other school that was going to Pyle was because Bradley Hills had a renovation that allowed more kids to come.

The strangest time I ever came up on was my 6th grade year. I knew it would have been challenging because i just got out of elementary and moved to a bigger school with kids that’s older than me. As we pulled up to Carencro Middle I was saying to myself “man this is crazy i’m in middle school now”. When i stepped off the bus they told us to go in the gym and when i approach the gym door i felt nervous because they had 7th and 8th graders already in the gym, soon as i walked in the gym the first thing i heard was “ fresh-meat” my whole body just sunk in.

Ever since i’d moved to John McCrae Senior Public School in grade 5 it had been my dream to compete in the 100 meter sprint at Birchmount Stadium. So when the opportunity to qualify to go to Birchmount was approaching I didn’t leave it up to fate. I trained for a week to make sure that I was ready for the tryout.

To start, I have always been the kid that never really had traumatic family issues, as I was also the kid who could be considered ‘spoiled’. My parents typically found a way to give me what was asked, and ensured that my sibling and I always had what we needed. I grew up with a sibling, six years older, who came to be the child who was not athletic, nearly failed high school multiple times, and did not attend college. On the flip side, I was the child making straight ‘A’s in high school, thriving in softball, and planning to attend college. I lived in a very rundown town in Estill County, Kentucky called Irvine. With that, I attended Estill County High School, excelling my freshman through the middle of my sophomore year, where I transferred unwillingly to Boyle County High School in Danville, Kentucky due to my mother getting a better paying job. The biggest differences between the two high schools would be the amount of students, the success rates, and the different styles of teaching. What seemed to be my whole world turning upside down at the time, turned to being the best decision made for me and my family today.

Typically by the time people are fourteen years old, they can think of many impactful moments in their life. Maybe it was winning a state championship, maybe it was losing a state championship, but usually people have more than major one point of change. However surrounding yourself in a big bubble of the same people and the same things for too long will provide you only one big change in your life. A huge turning point in my life is when I transitioned from elementary school to middle school. Going to a different middle school than all of my friends caused me to leave my bubble and grow up a little. Leaving my comfort zone was one of the hardest things i’ve ever had to do, but it caused me to grow as a person. Anoka High School is now my school of choice.

In the past year, a lot has changed for me. I lost a grandfather to cancer, then a month later an uncle to a gruesome semi accident. My grandmother on the other side of the family barely remembers me due to alzheimer's, and my mom lost her job but is now working over 1300 miles away in Florida. If someone would have asked me at the start of my Junior year what I expected to happen, I wouldn’t have listed any of those. As anticipated, it was not easy dealing with a downfall of events like that, but the way I was raised helped me cope with it all. I started out at a small private school, where Religion was just as important as Math and English. How we were to act was drilled into us, and after I switched to public school, there was a noticeable

I wasn’t sure what would become of me. It was peculiar, really. What was I supposed to expect? I was beginning a new school for the first time, and no high school movie could have prepared me for the years ahead. Come June, however, I beyond a doubt realized what was to become of me.

As I went through 1-9 grade school I finally found grit. Going to St. Mary’s during 1-6 grade school getting up at 6:30 every morning just wanting to hit the snooze button so I could get that extra hour of sleep in. After getting ready for school, I would get on the bus, three stops later we would pick up these annoying foster kids that gave me a headache every day because they would shut their mouths that I would have to push through school with. Then building up all the energy sitting in 1-2 classrooms the whole day waiting for recess so I could let it all out. Since I pushed through those challenges, I was able to move on to middle school. During my two years of middle school three out of the five days of school, I would get up at 5:30 and

I moved to the United States in 2003 to live with my mother who then resided in the country for five years. The thought of escaping the war in Monrovia was thrilling but I soon realized that my country’s war was not my only battle. After my arrival into America, I was faced with oncoming waves of challenges. The war had prevented me from attending school for two consecutive years. The knowledge I had was incomparable to that of my peers. My inability to speak English, along with the overwhelming burden of my native tongue made learning in a new American school difficult. I was a foreigner left to present my capabilities clearly through black lenses with no words spoken depicting that I came from a third-world country. I accepted these faults

Times were tough when I was 8 years old. However, it was at this time that my mum decided that it would be best for us to move out from our house and change my schools. An obnoxious bar just completed construction across the road and the presence of such homeless and corrupt men would only hinder my growth. That is what my single mum, that had to look after me and my two sisters, thought. But then again, who would think that living in downtown alleyways would be a promising idea for a single mum with three kids.

I really enjoy doing my homework and learning but, I hate going to school to learn and get my homework. I moved to Vermont after eighth grade because my father got to move higher up at work. I don't know a lot about his job but, I didn't have a say. Back at home in Mississippi I didn't have a lot of friends. I had one named Lucy but when I told her I was going to move she said we weren't friends anymore. I'm starting high school now and I'm so scared to start over again. I love my new room the view is very pretty but, tonight I hate it because tomorrow is my first day of school.

Coming to school every day as a tenth grader was exciting, but it can get very annoying at times. I had to overcome many challenges to make it this far. Generally, freshman year was a year of change. One of the greatest things I learned as I reached sophomore year, was not to procrastinate.

The most significant challenge that I've had to face was moving schools and even states. It was some of the biggest and quickest changes I've ever had to deal with and it wasn’t easy especially at ages 8 through 11. I learned to adapt to things faster so I wouldn’t get the feeling of being left behind. This experience definitely changed me as a person making me stronger and independent.