PUBLISHED: High School Yearbook Write-up

I found this article I wrote for my school's annual magazine. It's such a high school me!...

I miss you guys so much. The school is big and everything, but nobody is nice. Only a few girls talk to me and the teachers look as if they are about to insult me. I want to come back!

As I hugged my friends on the last official day of my second school, I could not help recall my first few months there. I used to write letters like this to friends in my previous school. I used to cry as soon as I returned home after school. I sat for hours wondering if the kind-hearted principal of my old school (for ten years) would take me back. Since my parents had spent enough for the new admission, I did not want them to buy the costly winter uniform, thinking, “I would go back anyways!” Even my fourteen-year-old sister vividly remembers how much I sulked then. So three years later, when I bade teary-eyed farewell to friends, the irony made me smile; I did not wish to leave.  The school I dreaded before changed the whole picture as it fostered me with values, challenges and ambition.

The transition had been like never before. It was an all-girl, highly reputed institution with more rules and more teachers. The students seemed so cold and discomforting. They looked at me as if I was an exotic new animal at the zoo. They asked me questions about my earlier grades and school. I used to be very loud and confident, but there, I was a lamb. When teachers enquired me I gave very meek replies. I just could not cope with all the novelty, and sorely missed my earlier school.

Still, I had to try as I did not find myself going back or forward.  My parents had chosen a better school for my sake. If I wanted to make things right, I could do so by making the most of the “opportunity” they had given to me.  So I continued being a good regular student. I did my assignments on time. I studied hard for tests.  Unlike others, I was very responsive in class and approached especially my class teacher if I faced problems.

First term ended and my scores showed outstanding numbers! That’s when I got a little push to loosen up, be a little less nervous. Also, people talked about me. “Oh, she’s the one who topped in English!” And a few even asked me to tutor them! Teachers too appreciated my attempts. So, my lost self-confidence was retrieved back and I embarked on a journey that later proved to be full of friends-for-life, unforgettable moments, amazing teachers and a hoard of activities.

Instead of classmates, I ended up with three of my teachers in the elephant ride during an educational trip in sophomore year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was on the first row of our green-house march past during the annual sports day the same year. Similarly, in my first year there, despite my (disappointingly) mediocre show in the track and field events, singing in the school choir for the school’s golden jubilee celebration programs was a feat.

My pronunciation of “Sh” as just “S” improved while reading Shakespeare’s stories and I gradually stopped feeling embarrassed my ‘new student’ accent. In class, I got the title “Question mark” from peers for driving the teachers crazy with my questions.

All in all, the experience was exhilarating and if I had quit at the beginning itself, I would not have become what I am today.   The phase of adaptation that I went through gave me insight to tackle many more changes to come and I have learnt that hardships make us stronger.  I feel that I will never have such problems regarding changes as I know that things will pass.  I will rather extract the most out of the difficulties I face and become a stronger person.  My comprehension of the fact that new developments in life can be awarding has left me yelling, “bring it on”!

© 2011