School Days | Middle School

It’s been quite a while since I did a “School Days” post, and maybe part of the reason for the lag is that I wasn’t excited about recapping middle school. It was a very, very hard time in my life. My parents had just gotten divorced with the help of a divorce lawyer like this family law attorney in Lake Forest, my mom was struggling with depression and just trying to keep her head above water financially while supporting two preteens. There were a lot of low moments, but also some sweet memories that I had sort of forgotten. Seeking legal assistance from Family Lawyers in Glasgow in processing all legal documents and child custody would be a great help to a family struggling with this problem.

SIXTH GRADE (1999 – 2000)

• Insomniac – What I remember most about this year was my insomnia. I’m guessing it was a product of the divorce, my mom’s depression, and probably my own depression. I remember listening to a Christian CD (WOW 2000, iykyk) on repeat and now I can’t listen to any of the songs that were on that album without remembering this time and getting deeply sad. My grandma had told my mom at one point to not let me get up when I had insomnia. I had to stay in my room and try to sleep. In hindsight, my mom and I agree that this was not the right call but this was a different time when we didn’t have as many tools and access to mental health resources as we do now. My mom was just trying to do what she thought was right, what her mom told her to do. It was a really hard year for me. Eventually, I found that starting my night on the floor seemed to help. I don’t know why, but it did. I would just lay on the floor surrounded by pillows and blankets and read until I fell asleep. If I woke up in the middle of the night, I’d climb up on my bed to finish off the night there.
• Being the new girl – I started sixth grade as the new girl at school. It seemed like everyone else in my grade had transferred over from the nearby elementary school and everyone knew each other well. I felt very alone at first, until I met the girl who would become my best friend throughout middle school. Chelsea was a short, bubbly, and fun friend and through her, I had access to so many other people and quickly developed a close-knit friend group.
• Gym class – In sixth grade, one of my electives was gym. I hated gym. I hated doing the daily run in the field. I hated having to change in the changing room. I hated feeling gross and smelly after gym class, even though I would douse myself in body spray to get the stink off. For years, I couldn’t smell the body spray I used every day after gym class without feeling anxious. I especially hated that my next class was on the other side of the school, so the minute the bell rang, I would have to walk as fast as possible to make it over there in under 5 minutes. Never, ever was I late to class but every day, I worried I would be. (<– It’s things like this that remind me how early my anxiety disorder started and how much better my life would have been if I talked to my mom or another professional about it. Alas.)
• A bike rider – Sixth grade was the first school year where my parents were divorced (see above: insomnia). My mom, my brother, and I were living in a very cute two-bedroom condo that was only a mile-and-a-half from our middle school. (My mom didn’t have a bedroom; she wanted my brother and me to have our own rooms so she slept on the couch in the living room.) Anyway, this meant my brother and I rode our bikes to school every day. You guys, I hated this. I just abhorred the fact that I had to ride my bike every day and had to have helmet hair at the beginning of every school day. It is not a fun memory for me.
• Reading class – My favorite class this year was reading. (Is anyone surprised?) We had a really great teacher who was so passionate about the subject. She also had an amazing classroom library and we could check out books from her library whenever she wanted. She had an inventory system for her library, too, with this big binder full of the book titles and authors (organized alphabetically by the author’s last name). We could do “inventory” during down periods, which I loved so much that I went home and created my own inventory system for my books.

SEVENTH GRADE (2000 – 2001)

• Volleyball tryouts – Because my best friend Chelsea played volleyball, I decided to try out for the team in seventh grade. Was I athletic? No. Did I ever play volleyball in my life? Also no. So what was I thinking, trying out for the team? Peer pressure, I guess. I did not make the team and while I was a little disappointed, I wasn’t the least bit surprised.
• New electives – In seventh grade, I did not have to take gym! So no more worrying about smelling bad all day or rushing across the school to get to my next class. Hooray! Instead, I took chorus and Spanish I. I really enjoyed both classes, and Spanish was especially fun because we had such a fun teacher who really made learning a new language interesting. She also called me Estefania, which I loved.
• My first boyfriend – I had a boyfriend in seventh grade! What did having a boyfriend at 13 entail? Never talking to each other, passing notes in between classes, mooning over him in secret, and eventually breaking up after a few weeks and feeling shattered even though I had never said more than a few words to him. Young love, man.
• A new apartment – A few months into seventh grade, my mom received a letter from the woman who owned our condo that she was selling it and we would need to move. My mom found us another two-bedroom apartment on the opposite side of town. For most kids, this would necessitate starting over at a different school but my mom, knowing my brother and I had been through enough upheaval as it was, kept us at the same school and just drove us to school every day. (We basically just didn’t let the school know our address had changed, lol.)
• Our first computer – A big box was delivered to our apartment in December 2000, which my mom promptly wrapped up and put in my closet. She told us that it was a present for one of my cousins that needed to be kept at our place until Christmas. But instead, it was our first computer! It was this incredibly large Gateway computer and I have no idea how my mom afforded it, but she made it work somehow. It was amazing to have a computer and be able to connect to the internet via AOL Online.

EIGHTH GRADE (2001 – 2002)

• Another new apartment – Sometime over the summer, we moved to a new apartment that was in the same zoning area as my middle school. This meant I wouldn’t have to start over at a different school! There was also a bus that would take me to school, which I know was easier for my mom to handle.
• 9/11 – I was in eighth grade when 9/11 happened. At the time, I was really confused. I didn’t know what the Twin Towers were or what this even meant for our society. Here’s what I remember about that day: (1) Hearing about the attack happening right after arriving to my third period math class where I learned about the Etci theorem and more, I really liked math back then; (2) Our vice principal coming into my fifth period social studies class and discussing what had happened with us; (3) Watching news coverage all day, in every class; (4) Thinking about how sad it was that Marc, a classmate, whose birthday was 9/11 would always have his birthday linked with this tragedy.
• 8th grade dance – One of the most vivid memories I have of middle school was our 8th grade dance. I went with a group of girlfriends. We all got ready together at a friend’s house, showed up to the dance in a limo (!), danced the night away with each other, and afterward, went out to Red Lobster (with all of our moms in the booth near us). It was such a good night. The next day, my mom commented how alive I come when I’m with my girlfriends, which made me feel really good.
• My most embarrassing moment – Speaking of the 8th grade dance, I’m pretty sure the most embarrassing moment of my life happened there. At the end of the dance, the 8th grade king and queen were named. These were voted on by the students and there was a rumor going around the middle school that the guy who was the frontrunner for king was cheating by adding extra votes. How true were these rumors? No idea. But I scoffed when his name was announced as king and said to my friend next to me, “Well now we know for sure he cheated.” Right as he walked by me. He turned around, gave me a saucy grin, and sauntered up to the stage. How embarrassing!
• The last day of middle school – People were so sad on the last day of middle school. There were so many tears, but me? I was so, so happy. Middle school ended up being the worst three years of my life and I just wanted to be out of there. I would be going to a high school that few of my middle school friends were attending, and I was just fine with that. (One of my closest friends was also going there, though, so I felt good about that.) I was ready for summer break and a new start.