When I was in second grade, my parents went up to me one night and told me that we were going to move to a different house. I was having mixed feelings when I heard this, I loved my tiny town of Worthing.

Worthing has been a town for many years and It’s very small & old. There are not many houses or buildings, and there are only fields surrounding it. Once my family moved here, though, it seemed great and new. I had many amazing friends, and I didn’t want to leave them.

My family went on a quest, looking for houses constantly, and we looked at at least one per night. Every house we checked, though, wasn’t something we liked. Whether there weren’t enough bedrooms, not enough space, or just something our family didn’t enjoy. We looked in many towns surrounding Worthing, even near places we’ve lived before. We finally looked in Harrisburg, and we found the perfect option. It was a large, brown house with red bricks on the side. My parents bought it, and we were moving in. I thought Harrisburg was a lot better than Worthing; it was new and exciting. I had to finish my year of second grade, so my mom drove me back to my small elementary school in Worthing every day. At the end of the school year, it was really hard to say goodbye. Not to just my friends, but also my favorite teachers. Saying that I was going to a different school was super hard to tell my best friend, Kaitlyn. At first, she didn’t even believe me. We spent almost every day together, and it was impossible to think that wouldn’t happen anymore.

However, I had no other choice. It was officially time to move on from my town.

Then, I was entering third grade. I felt scared that I had to adapt to a new environment, but I knew that I would figure it out. Also, I was happy I made some friends, even if they weren’t at my school. I had to start all over again. I entered my new classroom, and I was welcomed with bright colors and happy kids all around. ‘Wow,’ I thought, ‘This is great.’ Maybe third grade wasn’t going to be too bad after all.

I met my new teacher, Mrs. Berger. She was a tall teacher with long brown hair and wore a pretty dress. I got all my things packed up and ready to go for the day, and sat down. Mrs. Berger went to the front of the room and declared with a smile, “Hello. Welcome to 3rd grade. I’m super excited to spend the year with you all.” Everyone in the class also smiled happily; she already seemed very kind.

Mrs. Berger then started talking about how she just moved to Harrisburg, and it was her first year teaching in South Dakota. I was surprised. I’d never met a teacher new to a school before. I instantly felt a connection; we were both new. As the months went on, I got to know Mrs. Berger a lot better, while making multiple friends in the process. Because I knew we had something in common, this made me super happy, and I wanted to know her better. I figured out she had a daughter in first grade, and she soon became my book buddy, so I got very close to her and her family. The other kids were hesitant at first, and I didn’t have anyone to be with for the first few weeks. Later on, they accepted me with kindness and respect, and I was very grateful. I was super afraid that they didn’t like me.

Many other people and I in my class learned to accept people, no matter if they’re new or different. It did take the kids at my school some time to figure that out, but they did eventually. I even had to accept some others, because some people looked or acted differently from me. However, when I really met them, I found out they’re a lot more than those differences. I ended up making friends with many many people, and a good handful of them are even still my friends today. What I learned from this is, when you have the chance, try new things because you can meet new people, experience new things, and open up a whole new chapter in your life.

© Brynn. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.