Moving schools is definitely a challenge for kids since it means they are forced to leave their comfort zone and find a new one. When I was about 9 years old my parents and I moved from Boise to Meridian. It wasn’t necessarily a big move since we still lived in Idaho, but it meant I had to change schools. It was difficult for me to do that since the old school I had been attending since kindergarten. Moving meant that I would have to leave my 4th grade class in Boise, to join a new one in Meridian. I was excited since it meant I was moving into a new house that was located in a neighborhood that was brand new.
The feeling of being somewhere new was weird at first, since it didn’t smell or look like home. We had to unpack all of our things and set up the tv and internet. The typical stuff people do when they first move in. Going to bed in a new room, new house was super strange for me. I felt like I belonged at my old place. Falling asleep on the first night didn’t happen too easy. When I woke up the next day, I had to get ready to go to school. It was my last day there, and I knew I had to make the best of it. I remember before I left, all my friends were hugging me and telling me not to forget about them.
I think that was the first and only time I had ever cried about leaving someone. It honestly wasn’t long after until more people started crying. Who knew a 4th grade class could get so emotional about a girl leaving? Anyway, that night was a Halloween party my school was hosting. They called it Trunk or Treat, which basically meant that a bunch of teachers and families would bring their car out, decorate them, dress up, and hand out candy. There were games being played, candy eaten, and everyone was wearing their best Halloween costume.
I had a few more hours to say goodbye to everyone before I made my way home to a new house in a new city. Well, maybe the city wasn’t so new since most people who live in Meridian refer to it as Boise. I know I say I live in Boise when someone outside of Idaho asks me what city I am from. Eventually I had to start my new day at a new school. The first day wasn’t so bad, I hung out with a few girls whose names I didn’t even learn until the next week. I’ll be honest though, I felt extremely out of place. Someone in that class referred to me as the “New Girl”.
It was strange being called that since all my years of going to school I was never “new”. I decided just to brush it off and continue on throughout the days. I tried keeping a positive outlook on this whole move thing, but the positivity slowly started disappearing as the days would go on. The group I had been with, started slowly to back away from me. They were treating me as if I was some sort of stranger who had happened to invade their personal lives. They wouldn’t save me seats at lunch, stopped including me in games, and would even act as though I wasn’t there sometimes.
I didn’t understand what was going on and at that time I was way too shy to confront them about it. I remember my parents telling me maybe those girls were jealous. Well, actually most of those girls were nice to me, there was just one who I kind of would get the impression of, that she didn’t want me there. My parents continued to tell me that only reason they could possibly not want me around was because they were jealous. I did go through this crazy phase in 4th grade through most of 7th where all I wanted to wear was Abercrombie and Fitch. th grade year I believe 80% of my wardrobe was Abercrombie.
My dad would tell me it was a possibility that one of the girls thought she had the prettiest outfits in the class and then when I came, she got upset. It was a typical thing a father would say to his young daughter to make her feel better. The rest of the school year I hated. I didn’t like the fact that my parents made us move. Moving meant change. Change was never a good thing for me because it meant I had to leave behind my old life and start a new one.
As months went by, I began thinking that I should make the remaining 3 months of school more positive. I started playing tetherball outside. I wasn’t super good at first but by the end of the year I got a lot better. It was obviously a good choice to make since playing tetherball made me not look like a loser standing alone outside. It wasn’t long after until summer came along. I didn’t have to be in that classroom filled with people who didn’t care about me, and I obviously didn’t care much for them either.
I was invisible to them, and the thing about being invisible is that no one gives a who about you and you’ve got no one to give a who about. In the end, I definitely overcame the whole not having any friends because when school started again in the fall, I met some girls that were really cool and the three of us had some interesting adventures in the 5th grade class. Anyways, what happened the previous year was history. Moving definitely was a big change for me, but in the end I grew as a person. Moving is never easy for a kid, but with patience and time you can always make a new place a home.
