Change is hard. Not all people endure change well, whether the change is minute or dramatic. Transitioning from one community to another can be one of the hardest changes of all. Changing communities affects how one views his or her peers, life, and one’s sense of self. When I made the transition from Elementary School to Middle School, my world was turned upside down. I was introduced to things I had been beforehand shielded from. My experience of the shift from Elementary School to Middle School was dramatic; my life changed both for the better and for the worse. Elementary School was a happy time in my life; I am sure most of my fellow students would agree with me. In Elementary School, I was free from the worldly worries; I did not have
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Different from the better part of the student body, I was much more protected from the world by my parents. For example, I did not know anything about drugs, fights, or mean teachers, except for what I had picked up on from various movies which was limited due to the protection. Since I had no real world experience in particular areas of life, I was culture shocked by the apparent evil ideals of Middle School. I remember the first fight I witnessed. It was so violent; much more so than the altercations I had seen on the big screen. Also, the pace of Middle School was quicker than I was accustomed to. I had five minutes to hastily grab my books out of my locker and get to my next class compared to Elementary School where all of my classes were taught by the same teacher in the same classroom with the same set of rules. That is why I relate to Lori Alvord when she says, “Understanding the culture of Dartmouth was like taking a course in itself. I didn’t know the meaning of fraternities or the class system.” (Alvord) Her Dartmouth was my Middle …show more content…
My sense of self went from sky high to rock bottom almost instantaneously. It was a humbling experience. I went from being a fifth grader on top of the world and the oldest one in the school to a puny sixth grader who had no clue about the world system. I felt as if my friends were still present in my life, but only in the background. I had to add some friends to my “lifeboat” or risk being stuck in this foreign land called Middle School with no one to turn to. My “lifeboat” had a capacity of very few and the new people I allowed in could not trump relations with my Elementary friends. My life was in the same situation as Garrett Hardin’s metaphorical situation. “Since the boat has an unused excess capacity of 10 more passengers, we could admit just 10 more to it. But which 10 do we let in? How do we choose? Do we pick the best 10 ‘first come first served’?” (Hardin) I did not know who to choose or how to choose them. I let life take its course and eventually, the right people came along and I admitted them to my “lifeboat”. We have been friends ever since.
So although at first glance I thought Middle School was going to be the roughest part of my life, it turned out to be very healthy for me. My sense of self balanced through real life problems. I had due dates on my homework, the assignments were actually semi-difficult, and I had to balance my time between play time and homework and sleeping. Honestly however, my
Different from the better part of the student body, I was much more protected from the world by my parents. For example, I did not know anything about drugs, fights, or mean teachers, except for what I had picked up on from various movies which was limited due to the protection. Since I had no real world experience in particular areas of life, I was culture shocked by the apparent evil ideals of Middle School. I remember the first fight I witnessed. It was so violent; much more so than the altercations I had seen on the big screen. Also, the pace of Middle School was quicker than I was accustomed to. I had five minutes to hastily grab my books out of my locker and get to my next class compared to Elementary School where all of my classes were taught by the same teacher in the same classroom with the same set of rules. That is why I relate to Lori Alvord when she says, “Understanding the culture of Dartmouth was like taking a course in itself. I didn’t know the meaning of fraternities or the class system.” (Alvord) Her Dartmouth was my Middle …show more content…
My sense of self went from sky high to rock bottom almost instantaneously. It was a humbling experience. I went from being a fifth grader on top of the world and the oldest one in the school to a puny sixth grader who had no clue about the world system. I felt as if my friends were still present in my life, but only in the background. I had to add some friends to my “lifeboat” or risk being stuck in this foreign land called Middle School with no one to turn to. My “lifeboat” had a capacity of very few and the new people I allowed in could not trump relations with my Elementary friends. My life was in the same situation as Garrett Hardin’s metaphorical situation. “Since the boat has an unused excess capacity of 10 more passengers, we could admit just 10 more to it. But which 10 do we let in? How do we choose? Do we pick the best 10 ‘first come first served’?” (Hardin) I did not know who to choose or how to choose them. I let life take its course and eventually, the right people came along and I admitted them to my “lifeboat”. We have been friends ever since.
So although at first glance I thought Middle School was going to be the roughest part of my life, it turned out to be very healthy for me. My sense of self balanced through real life problems. I had due dates on my homework, the assignments were actually semi-difficult, and I had to balance my time between play time and homework and sleeping. Honestly however, my