Welcome Back to the Beginning
Have you ever really stopped to think about what that new kid across the room feels? How has his/her first day been? Well, I guess that day can be pretty much crappy like the following months. As a new student, it is really difficult to integrate in your new school. You have been used to the system, people and places from your previous school. Now, having to confront a new place by yourself seems a bit scary. On the first day, you are welcomed to the school and introduced to your new classmates. It is always kind of intimidating to stand there in the front of the room in front of a bunch of new faces that you are going to have to see for the next few years.
If you’re lucky, there will be that person who is kind enough to come to you and say “Hi! My name is…. Nice to meet you” that is the person you will owe big time for the rest of your days. That person automatically became your friend, that person was brave enough to come up to you and make you company on your first day.
No one can always be too lucky, right? Sometimes that kindness doesn’t come to us so easy, all the new student got left is embracing the fact that his day is going to feel as long as ever. All these people are looking at you and asking their friends “Who’s that?” or “Is that the new kid?” Some whisper, others laugh, some just look at you and others say “hi!” You go to your classes and meet your new teachers. Teachers, at some point, become your salvation from awkwardness and loneliness. They ask: “How’s life? Where were you before? What do you think about the school?” and, most of the time, they also ask: “Do you like moving?” That’s it. That’s the question that brings you back to feeling nostalgic and remembering how your life was in your previous school and/or city. You also think about how you would’ve liked to stay in your other school, with your friends and everything.
So you finally come to your response: “Sure” because you don’t want them to know all of that, of course. The following days might be filled up with discomfort: spending the first days alone, getting lost or finding yourself in a classroom with no one to partner up with, because no one wants to be with the awkward new kid. Nobody likes change. When you finally start getting along with someone, you don’t feel very comfortable around them. Change is hard. Being new can be hard.
Maybe you are the kind of person that is really outgoing and finds it easy to make friends, but I guess that when you are in that position it’s not the same. I just really want all of us to try to be nice. That new kid might not look like the kind of person you would be friends with, but you don’t really know him yet. You might even make it easier for them by just saying “Hi” and starting a conversation. Be as talkative as possible.
Make him/her feel comfortable.
