Feinanuez Soto

Katia Fernandez Soto

Doctor Erin Dietel-McLaughlin
Writing 13200
31 August 2011
A Journey Alone?
'Are you new? ask any new student; they`ll say that this is the single worst question to
deal with at a new school. I cringed at this question being asked it by teachers or classmates. This
question represented my insecurities. This question represented my social status. This question
represented my loneliness, my sadness, and my silence. This question represented me.
A mixture oI Ieelings Iilled my body as I walked into the main entrance oI the building,
among them excitement, nervousness, amazement, and anticipation were among them. Walking
up the stairs, I could hear the reverberating echoes oI my shoes announced my arrival. New and
strange Iaces Iilled the narrow hallway aIter the bell announced the Iirst period oI the day.
Shouts turned to hushed voices as students scurried away to class and meet their teachers. 'Why
do I have to be here? I murmured to myselI. Then I remember this is how it will be Ior the next
Iour years. Four years oI the trying to Iit in. Four years oI trying to make Iriends. Four years oI
Iinding my place in the midst oI high school cliques.
Moving to a new city would be a shock Ior any normal teenager on the verge oI starting
high school. Beyond the initial shock was Iear; I was scared oI not Iitting in and scared oI not
being liked by anyone. I wasn`t the outgoing type who would be recognized easily, with Iriends
in every room. I was a shy Iourteen-year-old girl who had spent most oI her liIe in a shell Iilled
with cousins, aunts, uncles, and other Iamily. My Iriends were my cousins with whom I had been
Feinanuez Soto
homeschooled. I spent my Iirst eight educational years learning and studying with my cousins,
the people I had been raised with, who I saw and played with everyday. My elementary school
career would have been an endless recess iI it weren`t Ior our three special teachers, Aunt
Soledad, Uncle Renzo and our Iavorite uncle, Beto. Uncle Beto always made learning Iun in his
own way. At the young age oI IiIty-nine, he would play hopscotch with the girls while teaching
the numbers up to two hundred. OI the children, I was the closest to my Uncle Beto, and he
considered me his daughter. My grade school career consisted oI comIortable bliss, with a
second dad Ior my teacher and cousins Ior Iriends. With them, I wrote my Iirst short story in
third grade and solved algebra problems in seventh grade. My home was my school and my
school was my home.
On this day, the Iirst day oI high school, things couldn`t have seem more diIIerent. In my
Iirst class, computer`s class, the teacher asked everyone to sit down in any available chair. Chaos
ensued; chairs were pushed against each other as kids scrambled Ior the best seats, the ones with
the computer Iacing opposite oI the teacher`s desk. Friends greeted each other. Seats Iilled
quickly. I grabbed a chair as Iar away Irom the teacher as I could in order to avoid her personal
questions. (That`s another tiresome aspect oI being the new girl, being interrogated with well-
intended yet uncomIortable questions) A quirky girl sat next to me, but she Iocused on her Iriend
to the right, a boy named Kaleb. Kaleb was a very short boy with reddish orange hair who
seemed as shy as me. AIter talking to Kaleb, the girl, Kali turned around and shyly said hi. I
muttered a greeting in return, but she kept the conversation going by asking my name and where
I was Irom. I hesitantly responded to her questions, yet she still continued. I was pleasantly
surprised to notice that she barely asked personal questions like why I moved Irom the my last
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school. In the middle oI the conversation Kaleb cut in and started to talk about his Iamily and his
Iavorite hobbies. He loved soccer with a passion and told us about his Iavorite players, Brazilian
Ronaldino an the American star Donovan. By the end oI the hour, Kali and Kaleb had told me
about their Iamilies, their hobbies and passions. And by the end oI the hour, I had told them
about my Iamily and my own interests to do. I was momentarily stunned by my spontaneous
revelations to two complete strangers.
Being the new kid in a group oI people who have been Iriends since kindergarten was
intimidating and Irightening. I was scared that Iirst day oI high school, because my experience
with my cousins taught me that people who have grown up together end up sharing every little
moment in their lives; Irom the happiest to the darkest moments. They know each other`s
weaknesses and strengths, each other`s needs and wants. High school Iriends travel in packs and
meeting one member oI a certain pack sometimes meant having to meet Iive or more people at
once. I was never talkative when interacting in groups, and I would always let people talk in
order to avoid being noticed.
There`s a saying that 'Friends come and go but Iamily is Iorever. My Iamily will stay
with me Iorever, but during my Ireshman year at Avon High School I met two people who will
also stay with me Iorever. Two people who would be there whenever I had a question about the
AP Biology plant test, two people who would be there listening to my poor French accent. I
didn`t make Iriends that Ireshman year; I made Iamily. Kali and Kaleb made me realize that I
didn`t have to be alone.