I lived on the other side of the world. I moved to a small, quiet little town in the southwest of Washington, which I now call my home. I came here in the 7th grade, second semester. The middle school asked me whether I wanted to start school that semester or wait until the next school year. So, of course, as any kid would, I chose the next school year.

My family took me around the state. The first thing they took me to was Mt. Rainier, and around that time, it was snowing. This was my first time seeing snow in my whole life, and I wondered if it was really real. We had snowball fights, and my step-dad pushed me into the snow, and I created a snow angel. After that, they brought me to the mall so I could get new clothes and explore the differences between malls here in the United States and back home in the Philippines. My life had never felt freer.

The first day of school was my 8th-grade year. I had mixed emotions about it. In the morning, I needed to wake up at 7, but back home, I needed to wake up at 5:30 and get to school at 7. The extra sleep was nice. The school buses were different for me, too. Where I used to live, they were usually only for rich people and rich schools. I would always see it passing by and get jealous. I would take public transportation, like jeepneys. When I got to the school, I said in my head, “ Dang, this is different.” I felt like I didn’t belong here. People were looking at me. I’m not used to being the odd one out. But as the day went on, people started talking to me, but they could barely understand what I said or barely hear me. I wanted to go back home so badly.

The first few weeks were rough; I hardly ever talked to people, which is rare for me because I’m a very talkative person. It was very lonely. I missed my old friends, but I knew that I needed to be more social to make new friends.

One day in Math class, a kid asked me to hang out after school, and I was so happy!! Then I started meeting more people, and they all thought I was funny. After a few months, I had some friends, and one of them wanted me to try basketball. When I tell you that was the toughest day to go through, it was. I forgot to bring shorts, my team was the best in the league, and I was so embarrassed, but I fought through. This was when my shyness went away, and I started to get to know the team. They were really nice and curious about me, and they understood that I had never done sports in my life.

Adjusting was hard; I came from the Philippines, and I lived in a city. A lot has changed since I moved here. At least 3 years have passed, and I know a lot of people now. People see me as fun, very talkative, and loud. I realized that it doesn’t matter where you come from; it matters who you are.

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