I think that we can all agree that middle school is a time in our lives that we do not look fondly upon. Sure, we all have these good memories here and there, but in total retrospect, middle school was an unmentioned circle of Hell from Dante’s Inferno. We all had so much going on, it felt as if you as a whole were held together by some toothpicks, glue, and a prayer to God. Whatever reason you had to feel like that, that’s what it truly felt like being a student in middle school. 

As a freshman, I can totally remember the feeling. I still remember my first day of middle school – I didn’t really feel that old. Like I didn’t earn to be in the building with everyone else. Looking back on it now, I was really just a year older than a fifth grader, and nothing more.

This feeling of insecurity is what drove most of my actions in middle school – and my personality as a whole. I went from a sociable kid to a shy and depressed tween. I became quiet and shut myself out from the rest of my classmates due to how harsh the environment was. I was such a happy little kid in elementary school, but every ounce of joy I had in me was beaten out by the terrible landscape that was my middle school. 

I guess I could best describe this sudden shift as getting out of a warm hot tub and jumping straight into a pool, only to be dumbstruck at how cold the water is. 

All of this and more is the reason why I really only made one friend in my entirety of middle school. I hated seeing everyone else be full of life, but then there I was – just sitting in the corner, all alone. When I left middle school, I thought “Good riddance,” as I knew high school would be different. I wasn’t sure of a lot of things, but that was one that I knew was one hundred percent true. 

In high school, people won’t be as nitpicky. In high school, there will be more people like me, other than the one friend I made. High school would be different from middle school, and that was I promise I kept to myself.

In the days leading up to the first day of freshman year, I can’t lie – I was sort of a wreck. Sure, I was excited just like everyone else – but what if I was wrong? What if there was no one like me, and I was just going to die all alone as a nobody? Well, that thought was quickly erased a mere five minutes after I got there.

Five minutes. That’s how long it took for me to make a friend at high school. Now clearly, there’s a contrast between high school and middle school. One of them being that there are more people like me that I can actually relate to. I was right. High school was different. 

And it didn’t stop there, either. I kept making several new friends as the days passed on. I am only on year one out of four, and already I have five times the friends I had in all three years of middle school.

The high school environment is so different from the middle school environment. I feel happier here, I feel better here. In middle school, I felt like I didn’t belong at all – like I was just some person. But now, I feel appreciated, like I am wanted here. High school is so different from middle school, and for the better. I’m no longer just some person who goes here for a few hours every day. Now, I feel like an actual human being.