Looking into the mirror, I smile. It was the last time I would see my teeth without metal across them. Metal wires with colored rubber bands to be exact. These were known as braces – the life changing moment that multiple children and teenagers had to go through. The biggest decision to be made when one has a choice. Even choosing band colors is a large decision at a young age. One may feel nervous, yet exhilarated at the same time. I did not know what this new experience would bring. I heard my mom walking up the stairs until she stopped next to the bathroom door.

“I think I might be ready for this.”

I mumbled under my breath. As she followed me back downstairs, there was not another word spoken. She gave me a look of amusement as we both got into the car. This was the beginning of a new journey, and I was ready.
Bouncing my knee up and down nervously, I looked between the clock and the papers in front of me. I could not believe I had to suffer through another forty minutes of Biology class. Questions about who invented block scheduling and why they would find long classes appropriate began racing through my head. To me, the whole school system needed to be reevaluated by a professional. I did not think I was the only student lacking focus in the classroom. Or was I? My grades seemed alright to me. In fact, they were almost perfect in my mind. It shocked me to see how well I was doing when my mind was unclear for the second, and most important half of the class. I looked up at the clock once more to see I had twenty more minutes and two worksheets due within the first ten minutes of next class. What was the point of giving us work time in the beginning and end of class? There obviously was not enough material to be taught the entire eighty minutes. I believed in this torturous moment I would do much better in my academic focus is I had shorter class periods, with every class happening each day. With classes currently every other day, I forgot over half of the material before the next time I went to class. In order to achieve academic success and astound focus in class, I would have to switch schools. Nobody knew if this was ever going to happen though. Finally, the bell rings to signal the end of one torturing eighty minutes, but the beginning of another.

Sitting down across from Beth, I looked up to where we locked eyes. There was no awkwardness in this moment, just heartfelt emotions. I had just finished telling her about all the nasty rumors that were going around the school about me. I sighed and explained, “With every horrible thing said about me, it adds to my stress. I cannot fathom why people would do this.” To me, it felt like everybody in the world despised me or was against me. Soon enough, tears began sliding down my cheeks in patterns that reminded me of streams. At this time, I wanted to get out of the school as soon as possible. I even wanted to switch schools. I reached for the tissues as another wave of sadness washed over me. How could people have the nerve to make another human being suffer? My school has not done anything to stop these harsh words, but every year, the students are told that bullying would not be tolerated. If bullying will not be tolerated, why did the harassment continue? Did the school board have knowledge of how many students get bullied? For me, I had never been to the point of self-harming or suicidal thoughts, but I knew of other kids that had. Why weren’t their problems being solved? This school was a complete joke in my mind whereas it should have been a serious matter. I could not tolerate the harsh judgement of every prissy person who walked in the doors. I text my mom to come pick me up and walk out of the office to grab my books.

I sighed in frustration as I sat in World History. I had been raising my hand for what felt like hours. The bell was bound to ring any minute, but I was not planning on walking out the door until my questions on the homework assignment were answered. Mr. Telgenhoff seemed to be catering to every other student’s needs before he even glanced over to me. I pick my laptop off my desk and walk over to the students he is near. He looks up from helping them and tells me, “Go sit back down until I am done. I will try to be with you as soon as I can.” I gave him a hard look, turned around, and stomped back towards my seat. Once I got back to my desk, I began packing my books into my arms. If I was not going to be provided with help from this school, I was going to walk right out the doors. I shot another look towards Mr. Telgenhoff before exiting the room. I debated over where to go in my head. While doing this, I heard a door open and close, but did not stop walking towards Beth’s office. I stopped outside the doors to the office as the bell rang. Thank goodness I would not have to explain what happened to Beth. However, Mr. Telgenhoff was going to want an explanation. I could deal with him. It was simple to explain how I did not get the help and support I needed in this school because teachers obviously chose favorites. Every teacher ignored me if their favorite students had questions. This was not an adequate learning environment for me. I needed to go to a school where teachers both pushed for academic success, but at the same time, aided students in achieving their dreams.

Tapping my pencil on the desk in the auditorium, I looked around as every student between the grades of ninth and eleventh began filing in the room. It was the end of the school year which meant anybody could practically feel how antsy students had become. This was a mandatory meeting in order for us students to learn about the new program for next year, W.I.N.N. which actually means, “What I Need Now.” Other than learning about this new program, we would each have to choose the top three teachers that we would like to spend our W.I.N.N. time with. As soon as Mr. Birt began speaking to the student body, we settled into our seats and quieted down. We all sat through a slideshow presentation he had prepared and then got papers passed out to us with a list of faculty members that we were able to choose from. I thought to myself, “Wow…maybe this will be better for school. We have over an hour of time to complete homework at school and to visit with our teachers whenever we need extra help. This extra help would not be taking away from our class time anymore which meant that class time would be filled with learning and exploring new material, rather than having random free time.” I was in love with the idea of this program already even though it had not begun.

Pondering on about whether or not it would benefit me, as a student, to switch schools before my junior year of high school raced through my mind. The fine arts were a huge deal, and I was involved in them. I did not know if I could leave behind speech, the plays, and the musicals. Speech had been with me since my freshman year when my sister Samantha had talked me into it. Since then, I had grown accustomed to trying to higher my confidence level on stage by preforming in front of our speech coach. The speech coach, Mrs. Huling had gotten me out of my comfort zone in minutes, and I was not sure I could find my place at a different school. When it came to the musicals and plays, I had only been in two school productions, but those productions had been the time of my life. I quickly grew close bonds with every person involved with them, whether they were part of the cast or crew. Did I really want to throw all of my fine arts achievements and friendships away?

Not only was giving up fine arts a great hardship, but cheer was also. Cheer had not always been a part of me, and as a kid, I never saw myself as a cheerleader. Although I had not begun cheering until my sophomore year, I felt like my squad had become a family. I instantly fell in love with the cheers and stunts. I had never seen cheerleaders do many stunts, but once I started practices, I noticed how much effort was put into spreading school spirit. I did not want to give up on our squad or our bonds until I absolutely had to. I remembered always getting exhilarated when my classmates on the team talked about us all graduating together. Did I want to give up on this new hobby?

Walking into my parents’ bedroom, I sat on the bed and cleared my throat. My mother looked up at me, raising her eyebrows. I thought about how some kids had to go through the process of getting braces. Their decision would make a huge impact on them and their future as of how their teeth would look. My decision would make an equally large impact on my future. I mentally prepared myself and said, “As you know, I have wanted to switch schools lately. You have yet to give me a solid answer, but I would just like to tell you that I want to try out my junior year.” My mother looked at me with surprise at first, yet it was easy to see how joyful she was about my decision. She was the person mostly talking me out of moving schools. She told me that it would be stressful on my siblings if they had to choose whether or not to stay at my school. With stress added on to other people around me, my final decision would not be worth it. She stepped off her bed and put her arms around me in a thanking type of hug. I had made her proud, and that was all that mattered. I would stay at my school until graduation with all my friends whom I had formed great bonds with over the years. Although I would not be having a new beginning, it seemed like it because of how many great people I would be starting my junior year with.