As nervous as I was when I walked into Saint Joseph Catholic School (K-8) for my first day of kindergarten, I never thought I would be able to leave after 6th grade and enter the world of middle school. In a small school of about 400 kids, I was familiar with every face that passed by me in the hallway. I got to know the kids in my grade so well and we all knew each other’s life stories. By the time I was in 6th grade at Saint Joseph, some of my friends were planning on going to Kinard middle school in 7th grade. At this point in my life, I was not completely content with where I was going to school. The realization came to me that it was time to move on. It was time for me to try something new. Every individual needs a testing experience to help them become stronger. I may not have believed this at the time, because I was so nervous to step outside my comfort zone and become a part of a whole new group of people. On the first day of school, it was difficult for me to accept the fact that I was going to be “the stranger in the village”. I knew I was making the right decision because it was going to prepare me for stepping foot in an even bigger village in the future, high school. As I walked into Kinard on the first day, I pretended like I knew what I was doing as I walked to my locker and my first class. Although no one stared at me like I was the only new student, I felt alone and isolated because I had never experienced anything like it before. The one time during my first day that I truly felt like “the stranger in the village” was during lunch. I could not find any of my friends from Saint Joseph and I felt like a little kid that was lost from her mom in a crowded mall. I did not know anyone and no one knew me. My7th grade year showed me that I can take on challenges and learn how to cope with change. Although being in a new place with new people is not the easy, it is one of the many challenges of life every person will face. Whether it is going to your first year of college or moving to a different state, everyone experiences being “the stranger in the village” at least once in their life or even on a daily basis. The experience of being “the stranger in the village” can be life changing and shape who you are as a person because of what lessons you choose to take away from it.
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