The First Day

Ooohhh.......I am a ‘high schooler’ now- that was the first thought that crossed my mind when I learned that I was going to join my higher secondary school in just a few days. The orientation went on beautifully well and all I wanted was to attend my classes there. I had never gone through a school-changing experience. My middle secondary school was my world for the past eleven years, and it had visibly become an important part of my life. Leaving that school to join a new one meant -leaving those beautiful and tender memories behind. Had there been classes eleven and twelve there I would have loved to cling on to that school, but sadly there wasn't. 'Changes are inevitable' I said and consoled myself. The days that followed were filled with anxiety and most importantly uncertainty. Will the new people accept me? Will I be able to blend into my new surrounding? Will I be comfortable...and so on went the queries inside me. Putting an end to them the day came.

With my mind still playing pranks on me I summoned up the courage to step my feet inside the gates of my new world which was waiting for me. It was the first day and I obviously didn’t bring any books apart from a diary that I always carried around. Nevertheless I had put it in a big bag which was flat like an unblown balloon. The seemingly big but empty bag hung lazily over my shoulders and my right hand held a heavy lunch basket which accommodated a standard sized lunch box and a water bottle. I walked along cautiously not to gain unnecessary attention of any kind. The school was bursting with the newcomers and I was busy searching a familiar face among them. Sadly I had to move alone for I hadn't got any friendly faces among the throng. I reached the assembly court which seemed rather neat and welcoming. It did not take me much time to notice something odd about the people around me. All of them had the signature style of a new comer-an empty flat bag but to my surprise none of them were carrying a basket like me. This added spice to the nervousness I was trying to hide within me. It made me wonder whether the people around me were hiding their gluttony or was I too much concerned about food. It felt as if I was the only one whose stomach rumbled at lunch times. The eyes around me were boring into me as if I were an alien who landed in a spaceship right in front of them. Carefully I tried to hide the basket behind me and stood there trying to mask my thought and the nervousness that was brewing up in me. Interrupting my thoughts I heard someone calling out to me. It was my classmate and my best friend too. I heaved a sigh of relief and made my way to her. From the conversation we had I knew that she had come long ago and had already spotted Eleven Science B, the class I was going to be in. I climbed the steps and reached the top floor. My friends were already there and were having a good time with each other. What followed was shrieks and cries of recognition, which was accompanied by tight teddy hugs. Had I met them a moment before, my shrieks would have had a higher frequency and amplitude too. Through the glass door I peeked into my class which really was worth looking forward to. A loud bell rung signaling us to join the others for the morning assembly. Nothing was new in it except the recitation of the oath. The day passed on uneventfully and ended in a bus ride back home.

A year has passed and still as I recollect that day I feel nervous but happy because that school had welcomed me into it in such a way that I never felt even a slightest tinge of regret joining it. It was indeed a new world which presented me a new outlook and shaped me into a new individual.