Kevin Kohnen

Prof. Ian

English 1011

October 29, 2021

Middle school…

Here I am reclined into my seat, eyes glued to the clock on the wall. Ticktock, ticktock

the clock goes as I strum my fingers against the cool school desk. I just walked into the doorway

not even a few minutes ago, yet I already want to leave. This became a daily ritual I performed

as I dread how the rest of school day was going to be. Why am I so pessimistic before the day

even started one might ask? It’s because I was the newest prey to the apex predator known as the

private middle school system. Before I get ahead of myself though, let’s take a step back to when

I was still a happy-go-luck soul.

I recently moved to a new neighborhood towards the end of Summer and of course that

meant I need to enroll into a new school district. Apparently, this school had summer homework

to do throughout the break. I thought to myself that assigning students work to do during their

break was devil’s work, though I didn’t have much time to think. I had only one week left before

school started and had to accomplish the mountain of work, I just recently found out I needed to

complete. I slaved over the dinner table day and night trying to complete this futile task.

Dreadfully the first day of school was going to be tomorrow and I only was able to partially

complete my assignment. “Crap,” I thought to myself, “I bet this is going to make a wonderful

first impression.”
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Waking up at 6:45 with my alarm blaring I had a pit in my stomach knowing today was

going to be the first day of school. Reluctantly, I slugged over to my closet getting out the outfit I

was required to wear for the school. It was a stuffy solid green polo shirt which tucked into an

ugly navy-blue cargo pants which was all brought together with a tight belt. I felt suffocated with

my clothing like it was my own skin. I reach over to acquire my jet-black backpack, filled with

notebooks and my summer homework, and waddle over to the front porch. Of course, I couldn’t

leave until my mother came over to take a first day picture of my brother and I before we head

down to the bus stop. My heart starts to race while I wait in anticipation for the school bus to

arrive. Then there it comes in all its faded yellow glory.

I lock eyes with the bus driver she seemed like a gentle old woman where you can see the

wear of her body over the years. She waves us on, as we start to look where an available seat

was. Walking through the aisle I spot an empty seat near the back of the bus and sat down while

my brother sits a few rows ahead of me. Across from my seat I notice a girl sitting with a

younger boy. The girl had curly brown hair and wearing a uniform similar to mine, but instead of

cargo pants she wore a black and white plaid skirt. “Never seen you before,” she said in an

interested tone, “what’s your name?” I hastily introduced myself and asked for hers. “Name’s

Emma and this is my little brother Andrew,” she replied. Andrew then looks in our direction and

then quickly looks back out the window. “How old is Andrew,” I asked, “There is no way he is a

6th grader.” “He is 9, didn’t you know this school goes from PreK to 8th grade?” This was news to

me, I only though this was a classic middle school. Before I could ask any more questions, our

bus comes to a stop, and we start to funnel out onto the school’s parking lot.
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As I follow the crowd of all the bustling students, we made way into the cafeteria waiting

to be sent to our respected classrooms. The bell springs into action while a teacher tries to guide

the new students to their classroom. I arrive to my classroom after scaling several stairs upwards,

a chore I’m sure would get tiring quickly, and notice a bunch of students staring my way. I felt

like a Christmas light show as I feel their glares penetrating my back. I quickly grab a desk and

hope the teacher enters the room asap. Words travels fast as no one recognizes me and they just

readily assume I was new. The teacher comes in and made me hastily introduce myself. I hated

the spotlight and just wanted to head home.

I wind up having to head to my math class carrying my textbooks in my hands. Turns out

my teacher didn’t expect me to do my summer homework at all and didn’t even accept it.

Awesome. Later in lunch, I met back up with my brother and we discussed our hardships. It was

nice not feeling alone for once that day. That didn’t last long though as I could tell my brother

and I were the talk of the town around several lunch tables. We were so alienated from everyone

else who knew one another from PreK.

The next coming weeks came as fast as a bundled-up turtle on a hot day. Slowly though, I

was able to adapt to this new environment as people started to lose interest in me. One lunch

period however, I overhear some students talking about a game series I was interested in. I

enthusiastically started to chime into the conversation without even meaning to. They were

shocked with my sudden impulse, as I never spoke to them before, but they welcomed me into

the conversation regardless. We started chatting everyday, which I looked forward to. Those

students helped me meet other people and become accustomed to their school. Thanks to them, I

stop dreading school and started to enjoy the blissful moments.