It was my first day of starting 7th grade, and I was extremely excited to finally experience being in a middle school.  I was going to be in a new environment, with over 300 kids in my grade alone, some of whom I’d never met.  For the first month of school, I became very involved with clubs and student council.  I was in a club called “Project Respect,” which helped raise awareness for people who are being bullied.  I was really getting the hang of this middle school vibe, and I was making lots of new friends, I loved my teachers, and I really enjoyed going to school. 
    

Towards the beginning of October, I started getting reoccurring cold symptoms that lessened on the weekends.  I thought nothing of them, because I didn’t find getting colds a big deal.  These colds lingered until December when they got much worse.  One day, my mom took me to my pediatrician who diagnosed me with bronchitis.  He put me on medication and told me I should feel better within a week.  After finishing the course of antibiotics, my symptoms actually got worse, and I began to wheeze and cough every time I went into school.  My mother immediately took me to my allergist.  My allergist put me on steroids and multiple inhalers, and I had a follow up appointment in a week.  Showing no improvement, he put me on more steroids, and my symptoms still continued to worsen.  He said I was definitely allergic to something in the school, and asked me if there was any type of mold issue.  I told him that quite a few of my classrooms showed water damage, and smelled of mildew.  He performed allergy testing on me to see if I had developed a severe mold allergy, which was negative the year prior.  This test showed that I was allergic to four different molds.  My allergist recommended that all my classes be moved to the upper level of the building, to try and avoid the water damaged classrooms found in the basement.  This was accommodated, but I still showed no improvement.  In fact, I was worse than when it started. 
    

After being on at least 11 different, daily medications, and my symptoms still worsening, my allergist and my parents demanded that the school be tested for mold, and that I be removed from the environment as soon as possible.  The school was tested for mold, and the results came in to be positive.  Early February, I ended up getting home-schooled.  Every day for the rest of the school year, I had a different teacher come to my house, and learned a different subject daily.  I succeeded greatly in this.  The first two weeks of home-schooling, my symptoms disappeared completely, and I was extremely better. As the end of the year approached, my parents and I were approached by many teachers, who said that they have also gotten extremely sick in the school during their years working there.  My allergist made it very clear that I was not allowed to go back to that school ever again.
    

Although my introduction to middle school wasn’t quite as I expected, it taught me that life isn’t always fair, and that life is full of surprises.  I continued to have a positive outlook, and remained focused on my academics.  My parents and I started looking for eighth grade alternatives, and eventually we toured my current school and absolutely loved it.  If it wasn’t for my illness, I would never have gone to school there, and never would’ve met a great group of friends and teachers.It was my first day of starting 7th grade, and I was extremely excited to finally experience being in a middle school.  I was going to be in a new environment, with over 300 kids in my grade alone, some of whom I’d never met.  For the first month of school, I became very involved with clubs and student council.  I was in a club called “Project Respect,” which helped raise awareness for people who are being bullied.  I was really getting the hang of this middle school vibe, and I was making lots of new friends, I loved my teachers, and I really enjoyed going to school.