A Goodbye to North

Like most people, I did not have a great 7th grade experience. Since about 5th grade, I had basically spent every free second with my best friend, Chloe. When her family decided to send her to Kellenberg, I was left to navigate middle school without her, which was extremely difficult. The few friends I had shared either one or no classes with me, so the only person I really had was my twin brother (which is great and all, but having no close friends felt AWFUL). I tried to branch out to little avail: I didn’t make the volleyball team, didn’t pass the audition for jazz band, and the people I tried talking to didn’t seem interested. I thought heavily about transferring to Memorial but feared it would be the same there. Nevertheless, I dragged through the next year and the next. I eventually did get a spot in the jazz band and made a few friends and reconnected with a few from Dever. As far as school goes, it all went up from there!

After six years, I can say the tide changed the second half of my high school experience. In 9th grade, I joined North’s no-cut Badminton team, where I was welcomed with open arms and encouraged to do my best. I also joined the district Performing Arts Program, where I have spent the last four years singing, dancing, and acting with pride in my school. It was in these places that I made some of my best friends and met some of my favorite teachers. I am so thankful that I get to end out my year -somewhat- normally as I have been fully in person since March. I wanted to point out the differences in these years to show any younger North students that having a bad middle school experience is “normal”. It took a while, but I am finally happy with how my high school years turned out. Join everything you can! You’ll find your place, even if it’s not where you thought it would be.