A New Adventure

On the journey of life, challenges arise, many testing your bravery to go down an unfamiliar path. When you take a chance, your life becomes an adventure. I believe in trying new things, or taking risks.

When you try new things, you open your mind and accept life as a whole. Many of us like to control things ~ including me. We like to decide what’s coming next, and control the others around us. We are the leader type, dishing out commands to make our world the way we want it to be. Every once in a while, we need to let go and get rid of all the stress, and take a risk. For many people, it’s very hard to try new things, especially people like me. You are either going to like it or you aren’t, and you can always go back to the way things were. I only learned this lesson about trying new things a few years ago, when I was incredibly resistant to moving schools.

My story begins in February 2010, when my parents announced that we would be moving again to a bigger house- “so the doggies could run around more.” I might have been only seven, but I understood what this meant. I would leave all of my friends and everything that was familiar once again to start fresh. I didn’t like this idea, as anyone could imagine. I sat on my bed in my pink room, fit for a princess, my chubby face twisted into a frown. I soon realized that I had no say in if we were moving or not. I was angry at my parents for uprooting me in my school where I was happy, and I was relentlessly protesting against this new idea.

The day finally came where I had to make new friends, and start over for the second time in my life, in this world of huge 2-story buildings and fancy courtyards. It had huge glass windows and beautiful mosaics. This school also had elevators. I was quite impressed. I had to admit it, I liked the school, only for its looks so far. It was different than any other public elementary I had seen, all white and modern. It was completely new, and I loved the look of the pile of bean bag chairs in the corner of Mrs. Bacon’s third grade classroom as soon as I stepped in. I hid behind my mom’s purse, peering around her to observe my new classmates. They seemed nice, but a little on the wild side. There was no way I would ever be standing on a desk, trying to reach the ceiling on the first day of school, there was no way I would run around the classroom, there was no way I would interrupt my mom while she was speaking to my new teacher. There was no way that would ever be happening with me. I carefully put myself at a distance, hoping not to be sucked into their vacuum of craziness. I had to make a good first impression. I started to feel a little bit better as I saw that another little girl, with fire-red hair and big, wondering eyes entered behind me, also clutching her mom’s hand tightly as she looked around.

I was led over to my seat, with my new teacher guiding me and introducing me to a variety of kids. I didn’t do much talking, I just stared and memorized their names. I would need someone to work with later as a partner, and they all seemed really friendly. I carefully placed my new purple backpack on my desk, emptying out all of my items I was asked to bring smoothly, a new three-ring binder, notecards, even my own specialized notepad with my initials on the cover and everything. I wanted to look like I was doing something so I wouldn’t have to make conversation again. I pulled out my Mr. Sketch markers, smelling the blue raspberry, bringing me back to kindergarten art class when my friends and I would color our noses dark blue. It made me sad that I wasn’t there right now, in a class with all of my friends- Sophie, Milan, Samantha, Sydney, Natalie, Anna, and as I thought of them I missed them so much already. I calmly surveyed the room, and I froze when my eyes met the girl with the fire-red hair’s eyes, staring right back at me.

“Hi. My name is Channing. You must be new.”

“Oh… Um, yeah I am. I’m Ella.” I was taken aback with her peppiness that had magically appeared.

“Well… Do you want to work together on our name cards?”

“Sure,” I said, with a smile, a real one, not a fake and sarcastic wow-auntie-your-liver-creation-is-delicious smile. Maybe my third-grade adventure would be okay after all.

This is where I realized that a decision to move schools would be good, and it wasn’t the end of the world. I could still learn and excel, and start fresh and meet new people. I would still be friends with the girls at my old school. I took this lesson I learned into play the next year, at the end of third grade, when I was scared to death to go on the ride Tower of Terror in Disneyland, but I remembered my lesson and gathered up the courage.

Trying new things in life will benefit you, no matter if it is risky or a normal everyday first time. The more you see and experience, the more you know. This means that the more things you try, the more knowledge and wisdom you will gain, and you will experience a good life. In conclusion, I believe in trying new things.