I was always a shy kid. In the first grade I started a new school, but it was during the middle of the school year, so everyone already had their friend group, and I was just the one always left out. The first day I came into the classroom everyone seemed nice but being the new kid is not always easy. The classroom set up was very organized. Each table had four people and there were about four groups. coming into class I did not have a seat yet so while everyone was sitting at their assigned seat I was left out and had to sit at the conference table. It took about two- three days for me to get a desk but when I did, I still had no “friends”. I had to join a table of all girls. It wasn’t bad at first. I shared everything I had with the table when we had free time my markers coloring books and stickers. This made them talk to me more. But eventually a girl in my class start to bully me. She would call me names like teacher’s pet because I sat at the conference table and spent my lunch with my teacher to get extra help with my reading. Reading was my weakest subject and I struggled to read out loud so she would make fun of that too. When I read out loud I would stutter a lot which wasnembarrassing and the other kids would laugh at me.

As a kid you usually want to fit in so being the one, they picked on got to me. The other girls at my table would join as in well. I would have to sit at my table and be excluded for a while. They would still take my stuff but because I was so shy and soft spoken, I did nothing. I felt so isolated and alone, but I found comfort in drawing. Arts and crafts were my favorite and I did not need anyone to do that with. I would have coloring books and I would do a the trick where you color with a crayon and u scratch it off. My teacher told me that I should share my passion for creativity, but I never really listened. Eventually the other kids saw me drawings and it became a conversation starter. “Can you teach me how to draw this?” I had new friends and the girls at my table started being nice to me again. But it taught me that its ok to be alone but don’t let people’s words get the best of you.