On November 4th, my first quarter of seventh grade came to an end. In March of 2020, I was in the fifth grade when the coronavirus pandemic started. I was also having friend problems, and my best friend had to move away. Then on March 12, 2020, my mom told me that in the school meeting about the Covid pandemic, the school board agreed to close the school for two weeks. This meant that we had to do virtual learning. I will never forget that day. Everyone was so happy, but I was mad because I had my last few months of grade school left, and the opening night for the musical had been canceled. For the next two quarters, I did pretty well in virtual school. During the summer, the cases fluctuated. My parents decided to send me to virtual school for another year. They said if the cases went down, they would send me in person. This would mean a new school with new people. I ended up doing four quarters of sixth grade from my room. In the beginning, it was stressful, but I got used to it.
Now this year, in seventh grade, I had to be the new student in a new school. My old friends had changed. I had to wake up early, deal with homework, and deal with strict teachers. On the first day of school, I got on the bus while constantly texting my friend, Lili. We were talking about our school schedules and the first day of school. I was surprised. It was easy, and I felt like I was in a Disney show. But what hurt me the most was that everyone had changed and that all my old friends behaved differently. My teachers were nice though, and I wanted to go back the next day. I was nervous for the next few days because I had no classes with people I really knew. On the second day of school, things went smoothly until lunch. I felt like I was in a crowded place with nobody seeing me. I felt like I was in a place I will never belong and I felt so lost. However, that changed in science class on the second day. A girl with brunette straight hair and blonde highlights began talking to me. Her name was Maddy, and talking to her made my day. I got more used to school and got to fit in more. Two weeks later, It would be my birthday. Maddy and I got a little closer, and we became friends. The school became harder, and it pushed me away from my hobbies but I didn’t stop. I decided to sign myself up for clubs and try to get into the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS). I connected Maddy with my other friends Lili and Sophie. My favorite class was always social studies and science. Science really wasn’t my favorite subject in the beginning, but Mrs. Feldmeier always made it look interesting. Soon I looked forward to science class. In October, I got used to school. I knew where my classes were, what my classmates’ names were, and got connected to some people through just smiling or adding one another on social media. I remember in the second week of school, I tried connecting with classmates and made some friends. Tests came, drama happened, homework came and went. I got closer to the teachers in my house. Yes, our grades and classes are separated into three cohorts, or houses. In seventh grade, there was Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire. That means each house has four core teachers. I even continued my hobby of music by joining the school’s orchestra as an elective. My favorite day was always Friday, which was a resource day. Resource is where the school assigns you a teacher who is one of your core teachers where you go to their room from 7:18 to 8:01 to catch up on work, retake tests, ask for help, and more. I liked Fridays because it was Panther Purpose, where we would discuss academic career planning or how our week is going. I tried a lot of new things this year too. I’m currently taking Spanish for Beginners and I am currently learning sentences, counting, and more. This semester, I’m also taking Animation Studio, where we are learning about animating digitally through Adobe Animate, Flipbooks, After Effects, and more.
The last week of quarter one was stressful. Some assignments were late, I was zoning out in class at times, and a lot of weight was on my back. But in the last couple of days, before quarter one ended, I got most of my work done and ended with decent grades. Above all, I was happy to know that Diwali was around the corner, and it was rather exciting to know I could celebrate my four-day weekend with guests, colorful clothes, good food, lights, and fireworks with 0% weight on my back.