Personal Essay

I was ten years old when I was torn away from all of my friends and the life I was used to living. My parents decided to leave my life long home and school for a new and unfamiliar place. I was forced to leave my friends that I had always known and been around and go to a new place with the daunting task of meeting new people and making new friends. I knew this would be hard for me because I was really shy at the time. Moving to Avon was a very difficult thing for me to do, but in turn was very beneficial to me because it allowed me to come out of my shell a bit and allowed me to become more confident.

Walking through the halls of such an unfamiliar place was hard for me to begin with, doing it alone made it nearly impossible for me. Sitting alone in class and at lunch while everyone else talked and caught up after the summer made me feel like a little puppy dog with no home. I was always so shy even at my old school, but there I had already made many friends and was comfortable around them. But in this new place I was all alone.

In order to overcome this I knew I would have to change myself to make this change more manageable. I knew that meeting new people for me would be like putting a claustrophobic person in a straight jacket, but I also knew I needed to gain the confidence to do it if I wanted not to suffer. After a few weeks at school with nobody to talk to, I finally built up the confidence to join in on a game of basketball at recess. In my mind, I thought they would all shoo me away like they would a fly and not include me, but the opposite actually happened. They didn't care that I was the new kid nobody knew, they treated me like any other person wanting to play. After that game they invited me to sit with them at lunch and I began talking with them in class which was a big moment for me. I finally had friends at this new place which made this move much easier for me. These friends are still good friends to this day.

After this hard move I knew I had changed myself for the better. I became more confident in what I did and became much less shy. In middle school I became a student ambassador which was a program that let current students meet new students and get them acclimated to their new school life. I would show them to their classes, help them meet new people, and just overall make the change easier. This would have been a huge help for me which is why I accepted the invitation into the program. I knew what they were going through from my experience and so I wanted to help them out so they wouldn't have to suffer through their life at school.

Even though this move was hard for me, it was really a very important moment in my life. Through this event, I gained confidence which will allow me to be more successful later in life. Without this time in my life I would still be the shy kid who nobody really knew. Looking back I know that it would be impossible to go on in life without having enough