The Golden Choice

Back in eighth grade, at Lincoln Middle School, I thought I had things all figured out. I had great friends, teachers, family members, and especially a lot to look forward to. I was a happy kid and I had my life figured out, at least that’s what I thought. I was a pretty decent student at the time earning mostly A’s and B’s maybe a C here and there but really nothing too serious. At the time I thought I had the best of friends but something happened that really changed my perspective on that. I was misbehaving with my friends in class and just getting into trouble that I really never use to get in. I was suddenly getting detentions and having to stay after class with teachers. My friends kept on laughing and saying things like “Billy you’re so funny we like hanging out with you”. It made me feel good about myself that I was getting a laugh out of these people. At the same time my teachers were really not laughing and they started to look at me as a bad student. I was in a bit of a pickle and I knew I had to make some changes to get out of it.

I remember sitting in science class and I had a flashback. It was a very odd flashback. I was thinking of the time I first started middle school in sixth grade. I was a pretty good kid and all my teachers loved me I was in the good group of boys and I rarely got in trouble in school. Striking myself back to reality in science class I realized that I wanted to be that good kid again. I was obviously in the wrong crowd and my teachers getting mad at me all the time just wasn’t a good thing for me. It almost made me feel bad about myself. Things were just not going the ways I wanted them to. I knew there was only one solution to it

Being in eight grade, at Lincoln Middle School, high school was slowly creeping up on me and I had some big choices to make. My parents have always brought up going to a catholic school instead of a public one. Not just because I was hanging out with some kids that get a little in trouble here and there but also because it was a better education for me. I am a pretty bright kid and all but sometimes I just need more one on one attention from teachers and I knew catholic schools could provide me with this. My parents agreed with me and that was when we decided to do some searching.

I decided I wanted to get to know some of the schools I was interested in first before I got real serious about them. So with my Mom and Dad the first school we looked at was Notre Dame. It was an all boys school so that didn’t real appeal to me but it was worth looking at. We went to the orientation at Notre Dame on a cold winter night. I remember it vividly. My mom said, “Billy this is a very nice school I can definitely see you going here”. My Dad agreed so we went further with the process and that same night we set up a day for me to shadow the school with some kid who went there. It made me a little nervous that I would be following around some random kid at a high school I’ve never been in before. I knew at the time that this is the best for me though and I had to do this.

It was a week before Christmas break and it was the day I was forced to shadow at Notre Dame high school. Waking up that morning I was so nervous I cant even begin to explain it. I was entering a school where no one knew me and certainly I did not know anyone. I was taken out of school which was pretty much the only positive thing that came out of that day. My Mom drove me and walked me to the front office where I met the boy that was going to be showing me around. His name was Alex and he was such a nice kid. He had long brown hair, brown eyes, and he was very tall. He reminded me a lot of myself instead of the being tall part of course. I departed from my Mom shortly after we met and he took me to his first class. It was Spanish and right from the get go I knew this school just wasn’t for me. It was a very loud class and the teacher was not nice at all. She just screamed at them and it felt like I was in a zoo. After the class Alex said, “Sorry about that its not usually that bad”. So I was hoping his next class would be a little better. It was history and it was just the opposite. It was just a bunch of sleepy teenage boys not wanting to care about school it was depressing actually. I knew this school wasn’t for me and me shadowing this school just proved it. After the pretty awful day I said my goodbyes to Alex and he said with enthusiasm, “best of luck with your decision I hope you choose Notre Dame”. I kind of sighed at that and felt bad because I did not like the school at all. I got back with my Mom in the car and was about to tell her the news and how it went.

I told her right away that I did not like it one bit and that there is no way that she will force me to attend that high school. I had a flashback to pre school and I hated my pre school so much. I really did not look forward to going to it and it just made me dread waking up every morning. I certainly did not want high school to be like this. My Mom understood completely but she still wasn’t sure about sending me to Maine South. I didn’t blame her but I was determined to make new friends and sort of change the way I looked about school. There was still a whole trimester left of Middle School and I knew that was enough time for me to prove myself. I was a determined kid to get my act straightened up and I was ready to change. My Science teacher told me “Billy just put all your focus on you and no one else and have no distractions”. This really helped me set goals for myself and not let anyone get in the way of them.

The whole next trimester I had great grades and I made entirely new friends that I still have with me today. I really studied hard and my teachers were starting to even notice a change from me. My math teacher even said “Billy I am very proud of how far you have came it makes me very happy”. The first friend that really got me on track was a friend I met in 8th grade reading class. His name was Greg and he has stuck with me throughout all these years. He really showed me what a true friend is and what a true friend does for you. One day in reading class he told me “A true friend is a person that will be there with you to the very end”. My old friends just liked getting in trouble and were only there for me when we were having a good time. My real friends are and still are with me through the thick and thin. I proved to not only my parents that I could control my myself but I also proved to myself as well. I really got myself on the right track and don’t have any regrets to this day. I am doing great at Maine South and have great friends and family. I am so grateful for everything and everybody in my life.