“Hey guys, wait up!” I shouted to my friends as they slowly started walking away. I was struggling putting away my books into my locker.
“Sorry, Wes! Don’t worry we won’t forget about you!” one of my friends lovingly said giggling.
“Aw, how sweet!” I kiddingly responded. My friends and I were on our way to the front entrance of the school. It was the end of the first day of high school! My mom was here to pick me up. As I got into the car, I reminisced about my first day. All in all, it went well. As my mom pulled out of the crowded school parking, I remembered how not too long ago, I was scared and nervous about going to high school. Boy, was I wrong!
Standing on the stage at my middle school graduation, I remember feeling nervous. Not because of the hundreds of people awkwardly staring at me on the stage, but because of my thoughts of how I would not be going to my small, cozy middle school anymore. I was moving on. I had been going to that school for ten years! All my friends and I were splitting apart, going in different directions. Also, another feeling deeply hidden with in me, was how in the world I was going to fit into a new school, a high school, the place where the seniors shove the new kid’s head into a toilet just because it sounds like fun! Also, will my classes be hard? Will I be able to keep my grades up? All of these thoughts were zooming through my head as I walked off the stage with my impractical, little middle school “diploma”. As I sat down on the small, uncomfortable church pew, I started to feel sick, like I was going to throw up.
“Get a hold of yourself Wes!” I said to myself, “You will be fine in high school! After all, four of your friends from middle school are going to the same school you are! It will be fun… I hope.” Sitting thought the graduation service was agonizing! I was terrorizing my self with thoughts about my future and what will be happening to me at the end of the summer. The graduation service finally ended. After the service, I met with some of my friends.
“So, are you guys excited that we are all going to the same high school?” I asked them.
“Yes! I my goodness, yes!” one of my friends excitedly replied. I stared at her with a stupid look on my face. In my mind, I thought, “Are you kidding me? You really must want to get your head shoved in a toilet!” I went silent after she said that. I didn’t talk to anyone until I left. Still having those nervous feelings glued to my mind, I went home.
After a month of summer had gone by, it was finally time for my family and I to make our trip up to the lake in New Hampshire. Every year we go up north to have a family reunion. I remember thinking that some nice time with family would relax my nerves about moving on to high school. One night, after a busy day of tubing and swimming, I started a conversation with my mom.
“Mom, I do not want to go to high school. What if nobody likes me? What if I can not keep my grades up?” I frantically asked.
“Wes!” she said. “You will be fine! You know that high school like the back of your hand!” she said trying to calm me down.
“I know, but won’t it be hard? I won’t have enough time for friends or anything!” I exclaimed.
My mom paused for a couple of seconds. “Wes, do you know what I see in you? I see a boy that doesn’t want to grow up,” she said. When she said that, I realized that she was right. I did not want to grow up. I enjoyed being young. “It is time for you to mature. Right now you are nervous about the difficulty of the school year ahead of you.” She was right. It was time for me to mature, time for me to move from sippy cups to glasses, time for me to move from nickelodeon to the history channel, time for me to move from the passenger’s seat to the driver’s seat. I realized that everyone has to grow up someday. My “someday” was now. While in the middle of thought, my mom said, “Now, Wes, I’m not saying that you have to completely stop being a kid. Everyone needs to have a childish side to them. Just start to be more responsible and more grown up.” She smiled at me and left the room. I realized that high school was not anything to be nervous about. High school was a turning point in my life, an indicator to me to grow up.
When vacation was over, and I was back in Houston, I was not nervous about high school anymore. It was a week until high school was going to start. Because I had taken the high road, and decided to mature, my feelings about high school changed. I was now excited! New friends, exciting trips to go on, sports, starting to drive; it was all so exciting to think about! That day, I had to go get my laptop at the school. I was extremely excited to get my laptop, a Mac laptop! When my mom pulled up into the large, busy parking lot, I could see a sign in the front door window saying Laptop Session in the Chapel. As we walked into the chapel, I could see all of the other incoming freshman’s faces. Everyone looked so excited with rosy cheeks, bright smiles, and wide-open eyes. When the session was over, I took my new laptop home with me.
After the week had gone by, it was the morning of the first day of school. My alarm had wrung at six o’clock, the sun was rising, and I could tell that it was going to be a good day. I got into my mom’s car, and we were off. My heart started to pound as we got closer and closer to the school. When we arrived, my dropped me off at the front driveway of the school. Right when I was about to shut the door of the car, something I didn’t expect to happen occurred.
“Oh, Wes! Turn around!” my mom said from the driver’s seat, “You have chocolate all over the back of your shorts!” she said with an awkward look on her face. I could feel myself start to blush.
“Well great!” I yelled, “The first day of high school, and something has already gone wrong!”
“Wes, It’s okay! Just go to the bathroom and wash it off,” she said to me, trying to comfort me but failing.
“Okay, bye,” I said to her.
“Have a good day of school honey!” she said back.
As I walked in the front door, I said to myself, “Okay, be cool. Don’t do anything that will make you a target!” I rushed into the bathroom and washed my ridded my shorts of the stain, that chocolate menace. I walked out of the bathroom and made my way to the gym. The pep-rally was cool! It hyped me up for the school year.
As my mom and I made our way back home, I could remember how nervous I was for the school year. Boy, was I stupid! High school is going to change me. Through the hard work and good times, I will become more mature and responsible. I will go through a good change.