Middle School Years

by nonfiction

My first day of middle school in the 6th grade was scary! As soon as I stepped a foot on the Alvarado Middle school campus I was nervous. My mom and I went to the office of the school and sat there waiting for them to give me my schedule. While we were sitting there waiting, my heart felt as if it was going to jump out of my chest. Once they gave me my schedule it was time for my mom to leave, and after she left I felt alone and lost. It’s funny now, looking back on my sixth grade self.

The first class I had to go to was math. When I first walked in the classroom I felt like I didn’t belong. Everybody was staring at me like I was an alien from outer space, which made matters worse. When I sat down in my seat the teacher handed me a paper. I read the paper, and what do you know- it was a POP QUIZ!!! I was a little upset because here I am just coming out of summer vacation and a teacher gives me a pop quiz. I didn’t really remember anything on the paper so I felt I wasn’t going to do very well. Once that class was over I felt relieved and was ready to go to my next class, still feeling a little nervous.

The next class I had was pm core, a Language Arts and Social Studies class. Once that class was over I thought to myself that class was probably going to end up being my favorite class, because even though we did work, it was more relaxing.

After pm core we had lunch. During lunchtime I felt alone until I met up with my friends from the 4th and 5th grade. I was so happy when I saw them because they were people I knew and I no longer felt alone.

After lunchtime, the next class I had was art. When I walked in the art classroom I was excited because I liked to do art and couldn’t wait to start. My first day of art class we didn’t really do much and it was kind of boring. Art was my last class, and once it was over I met up with my friends again and we walked to the apartment complex where they lived and my mom worked, where I later lived. There we sat in the office for a minute and I told my mom about my first day of middle school.

Then we went to the park in the apartment complex. My friends introduced me to some other girls that went to Alvarado Middle School and lived in the apartment complex. One of the girls became my best friend later in the school year. My most memorable memories from the 6th grade are moving to Union City, going to my first dance, seeing my friends from the 4th and 5th grade, being on the step team at my school, our step performance, my best friend, and hanging out at the teen center with friends!

My 7th grade year at Claremont was fun. My cousin and I were excited because we finally went to the same school and lived next door to each other. The first day I was a little nervous, because once again I was going into a new school not knowing anyone besides my cousin, who was in a lower grade than I was. But as the school year went on I met new friends and experienced new things. My most memorable memories were meeting new people\friends, being on the honor roll with a grade point average of 3.25, doing my cell project that I made out of a cake, doing the math project that I made with a hanger, being in Avid, the field trips for Avid and being a farming intern.

Being a farming intern was super fun and knowing that you were going to get paid $250 made it even better and more exciting! Every day after school we would first do our homework and then begin farming. My favorite days were Thursdays, because we had a store in front of the school where we sold things we picked from our garden like parsley, tea, greens and seeds to grow things. Each day, we made at least $10-$15. Being a farming intern was also good for my speaking skills, because it taught us how to speak with others and persuade them to buy our products. When farming was over I was happy, but really sad at the same time. I was happy because I got paid and it was a great experience. I was sad because it was fun and I knew that I was going to miss everything. Once the 7th grade was over I felt sad, but I was excited because I was finally going to the 8th!

Before I went to the 8th grade I experienced something that was very different and a little scary. It was the first time I got strep throat. The night before I just washed my hair but I guess I made the mistake of going to bed with it wet, which I have done before. In the morning I was not feeling well at all, but I thought it was just a simple sore throat. So I thought everything was fine and went swimming with Shaliah (I was forced to go, hahaha).

The next few days I felt horrible. My throat felt as if it was swollen, I felt super dizzy, I had no appetite and my throat was hurting so bad that I couldn’t sleep and even cried. My mom gave me some medicine because we thought it wasn’t something I needed to go to the hospital. After about 30 minutes I began to break out into little bumps all over my neck and arms. The next morning my mom and I knew it wasn’t just a sore throat, so she took me to Children’s Hospital. We waited in the waiting room for like an hour, then finally we saw the doctor and he told us that I had a slight fever (101) and had strep throat. It took about a week and a half for me to get fully over it, but luckily I was over it before my family reunion.

There are a lot of memories from my 8th grade school year. My first is finally getting a grade point average of 3.86. The way I found out made it even more exciting. I got a letter inviting me to an award ceremony where they acknowledged all the African American students who earned a grade point average of 3.0 and higher. My second memory is playing on the Claremont girl’s basketball team. Playing on the basketball team was super fun! I was so nervous when we played our first game, but there was no need because we beat Piedmont. We won four games and lost three. My favorite game was when we played OMI and I scored 10 points! I even got a buzzer shot. The last game was really sad, because I loved playing in the basketball games. I was also happy though, because at least we won our last game.

My third memory from the 8th grade is having a boyfriend. I experienced things that were new, like kissing, hugging and falling in “love.” These experiences changed me though the 8th grade because now I know how it feels to have a boyfriend, I’m better at playing basketball (lay ups), I feel like I am more outgoing and I know how it feels to have strep throat. I am excited for high school but sad at the same time because I am going to miss certain things. Well, that’s all for now! =]