Moving Through the Branches

Moving is something everyone has gone through, something that society sees a normal and not a big deal, But for me, it wasn't easy.

I remember the day that my mom told me that I was moving like yesterday, I tried to convince myself that it wasn't going to happen and it was just an absurd idea, but deep down I knew it wasn't. I knew I would have to pack up all my stuff and leave the beloved home that I grew up in. The place I had made memories and the city in which all my closest friends and family lived, but I couldn't change anything, I was leaving if I liked it or not. I wasn't just moving but intertwining my life now with a new one like a tree. I had to grow and become a new person.

I was so upset I would ball my eyes out and I knew that I would have to leave some of my closest friends I've known since kindergarten. I was not excited about moving, I was fed up with this idea and bitter at the thought. I would have to pack up all my stuff and just leave, leaving didn’t sound good, I felt safe there and I didn't want to go to a different school or meet new people because I was safe and comfortable where I was and I didn't want to leave. 

I didn't have to leave just yet, well at least until the school year fully ended, but I was already stressed out and sad. I felt like my stomach was in a knot and I wanted to scream until it was all over. At this time I had live in Shelby Township MI, not that far but a whole different area, moving an hour away or from another state is still as scary because I was going to a new place. However, I knew this was happening because my mom was getting remarried and she wanted a change, but it still didn't make it okay for me. My brother and sister were upset but not as upset as me, they were not happy at the idea as well. Moving didn't sound that hard when I thought about it, but having to move from a whole new place to another that forced me to make whole new friends is.

The day we had to move my family and I grabbed the last of our things and went into the warm humid car to drive to our new house, when we arrived I still wasn't happy, I was upset and dreaded every second of it. It was around June 2014, the summer before seventh grade when we moved there and this made me hate it even more because it was gonna be my first year in middle school, I have to be in a new school with different people and I didn't even know what middle school was like because, unlike my last school, elementary went till fifth grade instead of sixth.

As the summer flew by and September came around, it was now that time of waking up early and feeling sick to my stomach every day. My sister and I were going to the same school for the first year which made me feel a little better than I would know at least someone in the school. When I arrived at Derby Middle School I was shaking so much and wanted to go home, I stepped into the box-shaped building that smelled like B.O. and desperation and was completely clueless on where my class was or how middle school even worked. 

When I thought about what middle school would be like it wasn't as easy as I wanted it to be, I couldn't find my way around and was clueless about how people knew where to go. It wasn't just finding my way around the school but I also had a hard time making friends, I would talk to people and everyone was nice but I didn't have a group of friends I would fit in with. I knew a few people that I was able to sit with at lunch and talk too but it wasn't till the middle of the year when I started to adjust a bit.

I went to my classes hating every second of being at school, I hated everything about it and I wanted to go home. I didn't want to move and I was frustrated about how shy I was up to the point where  I couldn't make friends. For me, it was miserable being at a new school where I didn't know where anything was and not having anyone I could comfortably talk to. So from that point, I decided I wasn't going to be a shy, scared girl but instead I was going to be outgoing and try to talk to everyone.

After the first year, I had made a few friends and started to adjust a bit, I started to learn that it wasn't the area or the school that I hate but rather the people I interacted with on a daily basis. After the summer passed I wasn't as sad for the next year to come, instead, I was kinda excited. I thought of the school year as an opportunity to make more friends and learn new things. I started to see that my experience was beneficial to me because of how it impacted me to become more social.

Meeting new people and becoming friends with people I've never known before helped me to become more of a social person and expand my horizon on who I wanted to become friends with in the future. After seventh grade, I was more social and started to make more friends and I didn't dread every second of being there anymore, I liked it there. I felt like I wasn't an outsider or that I didn't matter but rather I became more social and could act like myself around other people instead of being too scared to.

It's not just the memories but I remember the hard times I had and those nights where I felt like I wanted to leave this school and never come back, the nights I would think about never being able to adjust to the school and I didn't know-how. My sister was adjusting well and along with the rest of my family which left me feeling alone and helpless because no one could relate to what I was feeling or going through. However moving to a new place my family became my best friends, and I started to understand that. 

Furthermore, I might have not made the best decisions of not being very social or outgoing the first year but it helped me learn something about myself. But these hard times taught me to be more outgoing and that the people I am around shapes the person I would later become. I've learned to not give up when everything is hard and to get through a rough time in my life. I might have struggled and felt like giving up but I didn't and it made me the person I am today.

Today I see myself as a more outgoing person, I have a group of friends and I now have adjusted to the school and the people. From the time I was in seventh grade to now, I believe I have made a lot of progress about putting myself out there and trying my hardest. At first, going to a new school was intimidating and scary but now I look back on it and I see it as it was an opportunity to meet new people and help me grow as an individual.