Middle School

When I turned 12 it was time for middle school. I was in for another big change in my life, involving a brand new school once again. My parents entered a lottery to get my brothers and I into a charter school. I still to this day don’t know the exact reason why they wanted us to go to a charter school and not a public school. At the end of the day it was the biggest blessing in disguise.

This new school was structured as followed… grades K-6 was located in a two story building that had the gym, cafeteria, library and main office in it. Grades 7-9 was located in a one story building that had one hallway with classrooms and lockers lining it. There was a huge field in the middle of the two buildings with a small playground. You can imagine that the number of kids attending was very limited, hence the lottery held to get in.

When we all three got accepted, I was in 7th grade, my brother Parker was in 6th grade, and my brother Ashby was in 4th grade. We were required to wear uniforms which had to be navy blue, white, or tan. The girls had to wear polo shirts, skirts, pants or shorts. If we wanted to accessorize the look, there was always an option to add a cardigan or scarf. The boys had to wear polo shirts, pants or shorts. Jackets were allowed in the classroom as long as they matched the school uniform colors. Wearing a uniform was new to me, I didn’t like looking like everyone else or getting dress coded if I wasn’t dressed correctly. And yes, I got my first cell phone during this time.. haha.

The first day of school I ran into my long lost best friend Jessica from 2nd grade! We had lost touch after I left the school we met at. I was so happy I knew at least one person! There were a few other kids I knew from elementary school as well, but I wasn’t necessarily friends with them. Brooke and Jayce were my other close friends I had during this time. They definitely made school more bearable and fun! I did meet a lot of new friends along the way, but lost touch once high school started. The mix of kids that were in my new school came off a little strange, I was expecting a more “high class” crowd just because of the school I was attending.

All of my teachers were amazing from the get go. My favorite subjects were P.E, English, Science, Theatre, and Choir. The teachers made me love each one of those subjects.

Mr. Lansing taught P.E. he always made that class so much fun! He was chill, relaxed, strict at times, and very funny. I developed my six pack from all of the exercises he made us do. I think it’s been long enough to admit that my friends and I had the biggest crush on him..but obviously didn’t let it known.. haha oops!

Miss. Snyder helped me find my love in writing, not so much reading. I remember writing countless short stories in her class, and getting feedback about my grammar. I guess she helped mold me into the writer I am today. I did push myself to read every book I was assigned to read, but always dreaded it. She was so intelligent, nice, and helpful.

Mrs. Hancock started teaching at my school once Miss. Snyder left. Man, this woman knew her stuff. She continued to teach me so much about how to write, and actually enjoy reading a bit more. We still keep in contact through Facebook to this day. She was so smart, loving, and brave.

Mr. Donahoe was my science teacher, I didn’t always get the best grades but I loved learning about how much science is apart of our everyday lives. The experiments were so fascinating, and always blew my mind. Plus we watched a lot of Bill Nye, which was pretty sick. He was a strict teacher, which I loved. He had to keep the kids in my class under control.

Mrs. Butler made my love for theatre and acting grow ten times stronger. We would do improv, act out short plays, and sing. To this day she is a genius with the performing arts. I tried out for every school musical the last 2 years of middle school, and made it! Learning the ins and outs of musical theatre was amazing. We had rehearsals twice a week, up until curtain call for the first performance. The costumes were always so unique, and fun to wear. I was apart of The Music Man, and Joseph & The Technicolor Dream Coat. My brothers were also involved in musical theatre as they got older.

Last but not least, Mrs. Kugler. Singing has been a constant in my life, when I found out I could sign up for a choir class I was over the moon excited! Mrs. Kugler was and still is a music genius! I always had a blast in her class. I still remember a lot of our warm ups we would do, and a few songs. She taught me how to sing properly. I am an alto, and can pick out any harmony to any song. We had choir concerts where we could show off what we had been working on. Her class will forever be one of my favorites!

Math. Math has NEVER been my strong suit. Don’t ask me why, it just never clicked in my brain. No matter what math teacher I had, or how many different ways they tried to teach me, I never understood. My mom has always been a math wizard, so I was very thankful for her when it came to math homework. I did understand the basics of the whole subject, but give me a complicated problem.. COUNT. ME. OUT. To this day, i literally have to think about any simple math problem in my head for a few seconds or write it down, and usually it’s still wrong.

Testing… boy oh boy. Honestly screw tests. That’s all.

I tried out for the basketball team in 7th grade, I’ve always loved basketball so I figured I’d give it a try! Mr. Lansing was our coach for two years, he was probably my favorite coach. Tryouts were very intense, we had to run a million laps, do so many different drills, and of course show our skills. I made the team that year! I was apart of the starters, playing the point guard position. I made the team in 8th and 9th grade as well, there’s just something about being on the court that gets my adrenaline rushing.

Every year our coach held a free throw contest. Of course, I entered every year. The last year I obviously had tons of practice, and was determined to give it my best shot. If I remember right I made 100 free throws in a row, and swept the whole competition. I can’t remember if there was a physical prize, but the best prize I could’ve asked for was the confidence boost I received!

In one of our last games my 9th grade year, I was playing some pretty hardcore defense, and I completely tweaked my back to a point where I couldn’t move. I was SO upset. I wasn’t able to play in my last game of middle school ball. That feeling and realization tore me apart.

I also played church ball with a bunch of girls during this time. I can honestly say, church ball sucked only because it was too easy. I love myself a good challenge. My brothers were also involved in athletics, it was fun sharing the same interests.

I attended seminary while at my charter school. Seminary is a church class, and was an option for an elective. We would have to walk a few blocks from school if we chose to take it mid-day, or get dropped off for early morning seminary a few hours before school started in the morning. As you all know I was raised Mormon, so it was a given that I would take this class. It consisted of reading the Book of Mormon and Bible, singing hymns, praying, and a lesson. I was not a fan. I’d always find myself dozing off, getting called on when I didn’t know what was happening, or just being distracted in general. Yes, sometimes I would pay attention and participate.. but I just didn’t enjoy seminary, it wasn’t my thing. A few times I would be asked to play the piano or lead everyone in song, and I did enjoy that part. Sharing my talents has always been one of my favorite things to do.

Overall, middle school was a time where I was lost. I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to be. I kinda just followed the crowd and tried to fit in wherever I could. There was a “popular” crowd again, just like elementary school. Except these kids literally thought they were the shit, dressed in uniforms. I again was called names, looked at weird, and just disrespected. You could only imagine how much drama happened, and how fast gossip got around in a tiny one hallway school. I had my fair share of crushes, but now that I think back on it.. WHY. Why those boys? They were all so rude, and not even that cute. Small school problems are so real, very little options.

I graduated middle school in 2012, we had a huge graduation ceremony for our class. We were the first group of kids to go through 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, since the school was established. It was a pretty big deal. I was apart of choir my 9th grade year, so we sang “For Good” from the musical Wicked during the ceremony. We all got really emotional, since there were so many amazing friendships developed between students and teachers over the past 3 years. That day was probably the last day I saw almost everyone that I went to school with. I truly hope they’re all doing well.

Side note, this is going to be really embarrassing but around this time of my life I started to discover my selfie taking skills. I would take my moms digital camera, set the timer, and have photoshoots in my bedroom. I went through so many changes regarding my looks, I got braces on and off, my mom started to wax my eyebrows, and I got my hair cut and colored multiple times. I’d get all dolled up, put on any accessory I could find, and go at it! It’s safe to say, technology has improved and so have my selfie skills..(the hair, the brows, the teeth.. i hope you’re laughing to save my embarrassment lol).

The time had come to transition yet again, and head onto high school. I knew that this was going to be a challenge for me, since I had been at a charter school while everyone else went to public schools. More than half of my middle school class went to a totally different high school than where I was going to go. Here we go again.. another change, forced to meet new friends, and find somewhere to fit in.