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Khiley Miller

Professor Diana Watkins

Comp II: T, Th 10:30

31 January 2019

Confidence Is Everything

Going into any middle school can be nerve racking to the new incoming middle

schoolers. I attended one of the strictest schools that I have ever heard, called Kipp Tulsa College

Preparatory. Me being on an IEP there are only about six to seven students in the class. And one

of the first people I met and made a friendship with in that class is a gorgeous young lady, but

towards the middle and end of our middle school years. Middle school wasn’t the best for her

because she would go around saying she was ugly based on others’ looks. She didn’t have

confidence, and she was going through school issues or personal issues at home. So, I would

help her find some positives while going through these problems before adults got involved.

In middle school, everybody goes through their different struggles, but everybody goes

through puberty or the “ugly phase” some may call it. People would talk about her and call her

out of her name. Not only did she get this treatment at school but also at home. For example,

“Being a good neighbor means you treat others as you want to be treated” (Brotherton). She

lived in a foster home at the time, so she didn’t really have that person she could talk to about the

issues going on at school. The other students and even the people in her foster home would

basically make her feel like she was nothing. And nobody, female or male, should ever feel like

they are nothing in this world.

Growing up, I was raised to be the most confident girl because of my size. But just by

looking at her I could tell that she didn’t have that confidence that every girl should have. Middle
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school is a tough part of life for anybody to go through. Going into a new school you have to

face many obstacles like: not being able to make friends, having low self-esteem, and being

bullied or picked on. And because I was raised not to be bully and to encourage and lift others,

so meeting this girl not only helped her make a friend that could help her gain some confident,

but it also helped me make my first friend in middle school. For example, “ Being a good

neighbor begins with a positive, proactive mindset” (Brotherton). So if you go into school being

vocal with other new people and a positive mindset, you should make it out of middle school just

fine.

Personally, I am willing and brave enough to make a positive difference in this person’s

life. I like making others feel good about themselves when they don’t have anybody to make

their life better. Even if we don’t know each other, I’m still going to get to know him/her as a

person. And I’m also going to help with anything you ask me too just because that the way I was

brought up. Brotherton states that, “The simplest way to become a good neighbor is a smile,

wave, and get to know names” (23). That’s why I’m glad to be able to become friend with this

person. I say that because I have helped and put so many positive thoughts in her because she

would say she was going to kill herself. And if she would have taken her own life she wouldn't

have given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Ever though she is young, I’m happy for her because

she been through so much in her past with school and family. But also feel as if she had a child

baby she wasn’t getting any attention from people she loved.

In conclusion, she was comparing her looks to everyone she passed in the hall. She would

threaten her own life, and I would handle the situations she had at school and home. Middle

school is one sticky situation that every teenager goes through. You have to deal with low self-

esteem, not making friends and bullies, which is why my friend didn't have confidence and was
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threatening her life. She wasn't being treated the way she was treating people at school and

home.

Brotherton, Marcus. “Being a Good Neighbor.” The Art of Manliness, 26 Oct. 2018,
www.artofmanliness.com/articles/on-being-neighborly/.