In the fall of 2007, my life had changed. I had left the streets that raised me, left the school where I made my first friends, left behind my first experiences, left behind my first teachers. I was in complete and utter distress.

New situations give me anxiety, and starting a new school was no exception. I attended public school for my entire life where the teachers were very lenient and easy-going, but that did not matter anymore because my dad had forcefully enrolled me at a dreadful school called FFCA, also known as Foundations for the Future Charter Academy. FFCA enforced uniforms and something awful called ready-position. Although, I did not know much about the school that I would be attending in the fall, I did know that it would change a lot of things about me. I was nervous to start going to a new school, but I was also eager to begin a new journey and make new experiences.

After changing into my uniform on the first day of school, I made my way to my bus stop where I stood timidly waiting for my bus to arrive. The bus arrived after a couple of minutes and two mustard yellow doors swooshed open to allow me in. I took a seat and a kid introduced himself to me. Although he was older than I was, he was very friendly and helped me ease into the experience of starting a new school.

When I arrived at the mimicking building that belonged to FFCA, I was shocked because it did not seem to be even one bit public like. Everything about FFCA was new to me. The school I attended before FFCA only had one small rickety bus that seven kids went on, at FFCA there were over 20 busses that almost the entire school went on; however, I recalled my days at my previous school.
Being a child who attended public school had many benefits. It was cheaper, easier to get in, but my favorite advantage was the fact that you were free to wear any piece of clothing that you chose, but at FFCA there was only one red and grey uniform that stood out which was expected to be kept neat and worn everyday of the month with the exception of the last Friday of the month. This was something completely new to me and after seeing this, I was in sorrow over the fact that this was going to be my school.

Upon arriving at my new school I was welcomed with students huddled together in their grey and red uniforms. This was something that was new to me. At my old school the kids were scattered throughout the entire length of the freshly cut, crisp green grass, however, at FFCA the majority of the children were standing in lines, after seeing this I was beginning to believe the rumors about military school. Although I was starting to worry about my future, I saw a glimmer of hope when I met my principal.

The principal had helped me find my classroom and showed me my way around the school. I had seen some familiar faces and identified a few friends when I walked into my classroom and even though I was new to this school, I had felt as if I had been attending FFCA for years. I felt a sense of belonging. Being surrounded by all my schoolmates now made me feel more at ease and more comfortable at school. I was no longer nervous about attending FFCA and was excited to start going to my new classes and meeting my new classmates.

Despite the fact that I was forced to move on from my previous friends, teachers, and school, I have entered a new environment which not only makes up for it, but makes me feel at home. Moving schools was something that I did not want to do, but I have made many experiences at FFCA and am thankful to my dad that he forced me into what was once my nightmare.