being the new kid
Being the New Kid
Bavo DeGroote There really isn't much to say
about it that hasn't already been said, but I know that everyone has had the
same feeling at one point in their life: you walk into the room and you don't
know a single person there. Or even worse,
everyone there knows everyone there except you.
Unless you're one of those extremely outgoing, optimistic people, it can
be pretty uncomfortable. And I don't care what people say, like Meeting new people is fun! Bull. It is uncomfortable, and there are about a
thousand places I know I'd rather be.
Starting in
a new school is kind of the same, except on a much larger scale. Think about it for a second. There are about 600 people on average in a
school, and you don't know a single one of them. Yeah, starting in a new school can be scary.
But what's
really that difficult about being the new kid?
I mean, is not knowing people really detrimental to your wellbeing? The answer is pretty complicated. I've moved four times, and I still can't really
put it into words. It's the feeling of
being out of place, like you're different than everyone else. And adjusting sometimes can be even harder. I guess an analogy for it would kind of be
like getting braces. When you start in new
to school, in order to make friends, you sometimes have to make some
adjustments to yourself for them to accept you.
And sometimes those adjustments can make you uncomfortable just like
braces. You're getting a new wire put
into your mouth, and then you tighten the wire until your teeth are nice and
straight and painful. Why would anyone
go through that? Because you want to
have straight teeth, just like everyone else.
You are subjecting yourself to pain and agony so you can fit the norm. It's a
pretty bad analogy, but it kind of works.
Personally, I've never had braces.
But as I said, I have moved a lot, and I know how it is. And these moves weren't just like across-town
moves. When I moved, it was either
across a country or across a state, with new schools and new people every time. The thing is, every time I've moved, it's
gotten harder. The older I get, the
harder it is to be accepted in a new school.
It's not really you that's hard to fit in, it's the other people in the
school. The longer people spend time
together, the closer their bond is, and the harder it is to add on another link
in the chain of friends. I mean, some of
these people have been together since kindergarten, and already have their own
standards of what a friend should be. High school
is probably the hardest place to move and adjust into. People there already have their bonds with
others and have already defined who they are.
A high school is a hard place to shift your personality, too. Like those adjustments I talked about
earlier. I'm more of one of those be
whoever you want to be advocates. If
you want to impress some people and make friends by dressing or acting
different, that's your decision. Just
don't do anything stupid. I'm sure you
can think of a lot of things about high school to put in the stupid
category. All I'm
really saying is that wherever you move, there will always be people who'll
accept you, even if you are yourself.
And if you look hard enough, you'll never fall short of a few friends. Whoever you are, and wherever you go, accept
yourself, but more importantly, define yourself.
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