Starting Over is Hard
Starting over is hard.
New house, new friends, new school, new area with nothing recognizable to hold on to. By now I should be used to this, although I didn’t move much when I was younger but for the past four years have moved four times. I feel as though I know everyone in the state by now.Moving into a new house or in my case an apartment is one of the most difficult things imaginable. Moving from a house to an apartment is easier said than done, you have to downsize everything you have to a bare minimum.
On the other hand, it’s great for grandma big money for a garage sale. While digging through baby clothes and old Barbie dolls from when you were five you find all the things you forgot you had. For example, the blanket you used when you were a baby, still as soft as silk and folded crisply from being boxed for so long. Then, after you have dug through everything and put in boxes labeled “garage sale” and “for goodwill”, placing everything in the perfect place but totally different from previous years. For instance, the family photo album from 2003, the Christmas tree in the background and everyone is color coordinated, girls wearing red and boys wearing white.
Now thinking back to that day the smell of cinnamon and sugar cookies, when you were three and life was pretty perfect to your knowledge.After hours spent unpacking, repacking, and moving everything around it’s time to explore the area. For me the only thing that interested me was Palmer Park 100 yards away. The smell of fresh air, pine trees, and dirt it was different from the city with all the polluted air and the smell of car exhaust. You could almost taste the cigarettes from the house next door.
It’s much more peaceful than the city of Westminster, all you can here is the sound of the screaming children from the elementary school down the street and cars honking their horns to keep moving through the stop and go traffic of the city rush. Here all I can here is the sound of the wind brushing softly against the bushes and the birds singing along to their own sweet delicate melody. In the process of getting used to the area people stop to notice the foreigner of the town they’ve lived in for so long and know all too well. Which is a good thing for you it’s now a gateway to meet everyone. For me it wasn’t too hard to make friends, just a bunch of teenage boys wanting to hang out with any girl and be a part of the big crowd.
Although a fresh start is nice you have moved away from everything and everyone you’ve known. For some people it’s not that hard to keep in touch with old friends since they’ve moved across town, but for others the move across state or across country. Everyone always says “Oh yeah I’ll keep in touch with you don’t worry” but it’s just a broken promise. It almost feels as bad as saying goodbye to someone forever.For people who are still in school, now that’s the hardest thing ever especially when you are either going into or are in high school.
Starting in a new area when you know no one walking into school on your first day of high school is like walking into a reality tv show. It feels like everyone there is looking at you right into your soul. Acting like they know everything about you even though they have only looked at you once, haven’t even talked to you they have just seen what you look like. Trying to find your classes while trying to figure out who is safe and who have neon yellow caution tape following them and a big red sign shouting danger at you. Then, once you get into the classroom finding the perfect set is mandatory, never sit in the front because then you are too close to the teacher and you automatically become labeled the teacher’s pet; and never the back because you will get caught with the group of the trouble makers.
Now to make new friends, one good thing about starting at a new school is that no one knows all your embarrassing stories, like the time you tripped and the school mac and cheese that tastes like rubber and feels like the inside of a cardboard box got all over you and the guy you really like. However, no one knows everything you’ve been through so they still think you are just this freak who has no idea what she’s doing here. The best feeling ever is when students who have been there for a year or two come and sit next to you at lunch and then they start to introduce you to all their friends. They apologize for their weird friends but it doesn’t bug you because you know you are just as weird.For a lot of people moving around all the time is a normal thing for them, but still it’s hard even for them. Families down here are used to moving across country and across the world for military purposes.
Most people stay in the same house and same city all their life, but not for me I have moved every year for the past four years, which isn’t as much as many would think but it was really difficult for me. A teenage girl with all the teenage drama, now from many cities around the state, which is more drama than most people can handle.
