02/10/2014 First Day of School

My Mom used to walk us to school when I lived in the "big city".  I would take a ride in our red flyer wagon, while my brother walked beside and held Mom's hand on our way to where I attended Kindergarten.  My best friend was named Sunshine.  We would play hop scotch and kickball during recess.  The trip to school was half the fun and spending time with all of my friends (more than 30 in our class!) led to many happy memories of school days.

But then we moved to a small town.  My first days of First Grade involved riding on the bus which was new, making new friends, not knowing what's going on or understanding references to "last year's material", not knowing what the heck letter people were, and feeling alone because in my class of around 5 boys and 3 girls, I was the only "new kid."

Today I saw many of these same emotions in the faces of the 7th graders at our high school.  Here in Costa Rica, there is no middle school.  So, 10-13 year olds are placed in high school together with older kids.  That said it's not suprising to me that today the students were very very apprehensive about parading in front of all of the other students in the high school during the acto civico.  They didn't want to move in front of all of the other students until I walked with them.  All of these aprehensions they will get over quickly and be just as loud and boisterous as their older counterparts, but for now it's good to remember how difficult a transition it can be for students to move from grade school to high school and help them along the way.

I also saw most of the shyness quickly melt away once they were split into three groups and lead to their classrooms.  Seated with their friends in desks with brand new pens, pencils, erasers, and the latest notebook complete with stickers, they were at ease with their new surroundings and started getting to know each other more, learning the system of high school which involves transitioning from one classroom to another and having different teachers for every subject.

The first day of school is never easy.  But the friends you make, and what you learn in the end is worth it.  Today I'm happy I had the opportunity to share this experience, and use my actions of standing with them to help other new kids not feel so alone.