Personal Narrative: Moving To Durant Middle School

When I was 13, I had to go through a transition that tested my character tremendously. Let’s rewind to my seventh grade year, which was four years ago. Talk was going around the little private school I attended in Ardmore, Oklahoma that my family was moving away. I had not heard anything about this, I had no idea what anyone was talking about, and I was definitely not happy with being the subject of everyone’s gossip. I heard stories about where and why my family was moving that you would not believe. I recall one girl who said that my family of five was moving to Australia because my dad was a Mexican immigrant who was running from the government. If you knew anything about me, you would know that story was completely bologna; my dad was not Mexican, he was the whitest white boy you could ever lay eyes upon, we were not running from the government, and we were definitely not moving to Australia. Eventually, I found out the rumors of us moving were true. We were moving to Durant, Oklahoma at the end of my seventh grade year.
Fast forward one year, I am arriving at Durant Middle School for my very first day of eighth
grade. I was terrified, nervous, sick to my stomach, and had absolutely no friends. I walk into school terrified, there were thousands of kids and they all had friends, I was worried that I would never make friends in this heap of people. The school itself was dirty and had many bugs scattered here and there across the floors. For days, I was so panic stricken, I would not speak to a single person. If they asked my name, I would look at them too paralyzed to say a word. I was unapproachable and came off as rude. It was hard to be social because I was just so shy. The transition from a seventh grade class of two and an eighth grade class of three to a whole middle school consisting of over four hundred kids was terrifying. Eventually, I started warming up to people and made my first friend, Guy Carey. After getting used to making friends, I made more and more friends.
For quite a while, I was just trying out different groups of people to find out which friends fit me best. Some kids were very bad and some kids were nice, but not for me. Finally, I found a great group of friends who welcomed me into their little “family” and treated me like they had known me forever. They accepted me and never tried to change me. We ate lunch together, laughed, and talked about our problems. I just knew eighth grade year was going to be great. I had this one friend who I called my best friend, we did everything together up until the day when our friendship had to end. It made me sad, but I had no choice. She was hanging out with the wrong crowd and ended up doing some really bad things. It is difficult to end a friendship after it just started, especially if you are new to a school and barely have any friends.
Fast forward yet another year, I am starting high school.
I had not seen my friends since the last school year, but none of my so called “friends” would even acknowledge me. Here I was again, scared out of my wits, at a new school, and looking for friends. I met new people and they took me in like a lost puppy looking for a home, one of them ended up living very near to me. Her name was Simi, she was very nice to me; I thought that Simi would actually be the friend for me. It turns out, I was wrong, Simi used me to get what she wanted and I was gullible enough to cave in to her demands. Later on in the year, I finally (after years of searching) found the perfect group of friends. They were amazing and they felt just like my friends back in Ardmore. From that group of friends, I found my best friend Elizabeth Helms, who is still my best friend
today.
Picking and choosing your friends is very important in life because they are what help you to grow as a person, they help determine your personality, and they help you learn how to deal with people all throughout your life. Choosing the right friends for me took a few years and it definitely was not easy, but it was worth it to have the great friends I have today. For some, it will be easier to find friends and for others it will be challenging. It is important to know who you can trust because you will never know who just might abuse and misuse you. “Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.” -- David J. Pollay