Sun, Rain and Depression: The life of a teenage Floridian

Chpt 3. School Life

Well I don’t know whether you truly enjoy school or not but I sorta do. Now I say this lightly because if you remember the word “Depression” in the the title of the story, well this is where it will begin. Yes, at school and it may get a little disturbing for some readers so I apologize for that now. I will not hide anything here and everything you read is the truth so if you stop reading in the middle I will not be mad. So with that, let's not be late for class.

I went to preschool at our church and had fun as a little child. A fond preschool memory is that our teacher’s name was Ms. Stump and I am still laughing at that. There was a lake across the street from the church that we would go to from time to time that is always filled with ducks and swans. The local library was next to the church and that became one of my favorite places to go to. I always enjoyed story time in the kids section and it was just a great place to be (it still is, I go there quite often). One time I got in trouble for bringing  a little squirt gun to class and the teacher yelled at me and took it away from me. To tell you the truth, I don’t think I ever got that toy back from her but that doesn’t matter anymore. So you see that school can be fun but take my advice and leave the supersoakers at home ok.

Now we’re off to elementary school and things begin to open up as for how I live my life. Beginning with kindergarten at a public school was where I began to see how the world works and where my place was in it. First day of school started out with the school bus being late then when it did arrive, one of the water lines in the engine bust causing the bus to break down. Talk about describing some bad juju working its magic right there. So my mother had to drive me and our neighbor Mario who was in the fifth grade to school that day. That bus was fix and it will be the same bus that I will ride to and from school till the fourth grade where we got an new one. Being in the lowest grade meant that you had to respect the upperclassmen and they should show the same respect towards us. Well being a little kid, I tried to have as much fun as I could, so one day at lunch I took a spoonful of mashed potatoes and flung them at Mario just for fun. Yes I got in trouble but the look on his face was worth it. Then came first grade but not much to say about that year except that I can not for the life of me remember my teacher’s name nor my kindergarten teacher’s name but honestly I don’t really care anymore. Second grade was a little fun and I actually remember the teacher’s name. Her name was Ms. Wieck and she was very nice. Another fun year through and now onto the third grade. But before you keep reading, I must warn you that the following paragraphs may contain some disturbing content. No death, murder, drugs, etc...; bullying is a major problem across America and I was a victim of it for the next 5 years. So now let the torture begin.

Starting in the third grade in Ms. Brown’s class, one of my classmates named Ja’Quin Williams wasn’t the nicest guy I met and he was the first to take advantage of my shyness and thats where my life basically went to hell. Yes this is where all the bullying begins and as I said, won’t stop for 5 years. I was shunned,  laughed at, made fun of, pushed around, teased and down right physically and mentally tortured my entire third grade year. Ja’Quin wasn’t the only one, he had his group of friends and there were others who found me as the perfect target for bullying and abuse. It was relentless and basically got worse as the year progressed. I have kept most of this to myself and honestly this will be the first time I have really told anyone the truth about how bad I was bullied in school. It wasn’t pretty and I personally believe that no one should be put through that but thats life. Im am trying find a way to stop bullying for good and I know that I’m not alone in this fight for social peace. Fourth and fifth grade was much the same just a few different bullies that I did eventually fight against to show that I wasn’t that weak but that just landed me in the principal’s office almost every time. I did finally graduated to middle school where things just got a whole lot harder.

New school meant new people, new challenges and new bullies to deal with. Well it didn’t take me long to get into trouble because of the bullying. I got a 3-day suspension for “threatening to blow up a kid’s house” because he was really pissing me off. Yeah my parents didn’t like the fact that I got suspended but I did punch that kid in the face while walking home to my grandmother’s house where I would wait to get picked up after school. I thought I had my first girlfriend but ultimately I was played like fool just to make her look popular. Oh I could tell that things weren’t right by the way her friends acted around me but I just kept up with this idea that we were in a good relationship. You should know how it ends by now, I got my heart kicked in like an abused dog and she just walked away looking for the next dumb*** to add to her list. I got into a few fights that year but it was one of my better years because I did make a few friends so thats a plus. Went to a completely new school for seventh grade but I was only there for half the year because of all the fights I got into with bullies. I allegedly put my hands on/hit 11 people when I do remember I only got into three actual fights but we can all say thanks to the assistant principal for finally getting me out of that hell hole. I do sorta miss that school because thats where I met my first actual girlfriend. She was amazing and I’m glad that I met her. We are still good friends and we are always there for each other. I went to a worse school for the other half of my seventh grade year and I didn’t last till the end of the year. My mother pulled out after three months because I was attacked and beat up by an eighth grader for not giving him a piece of gum. I swear this kid was on the wrestling team and on drugs because he pummeled me to the floor after I pushed him away from me, then just starting pounding away at me. All I could do is guard my face and just pray that he doesn’t send me to the hospital but luckily my teacher finally saved my life. She basically picked him up and threw him halfway across the room, held him there while she waited for the campus officer to arrive. I went to the clinic to get cleaned up and wait for my mother to come pick me up. Finished my schoolwork and finals at home and thats how I ended my seventh grade year. Thats the end of all the bullying that I would receive and would now be able to rest easy at night and try to live my life a little better now.

I have to say that eighth grade was a lot of fun and I’m glad that I got to go to the school that I did. I was weird because there were only 56 students in the entire school, the eighth graders were outnumbered by the seventh graders and the sixth graders outnumbered seventh and eighth grade combined. But even with the crazy class, I stilled enjoyed the year and made a few good friends. A lot of field trips and out of class days were the best especially when the entire school goes camping for school project and spends the night a a aquarium because we can. Now I know that you’re jealous but don’t start raging because you had a mega load of homework while I was literally sleeping with sharks (well beside them actually), I still had had classwork and homework to do just like everyone else. I did get kicked off the schoolbus for “hitting” a kid trying to force me to move over in my seat when there was a completely open one right behind me. That was the worst of it and overall it was a really great year. Now on to the next chapter of my school life: high school and where things begin to open up as far as how live my life.

Ninth grade, can you believe it? Yes high school and I know what you are thinking, what could be different? Well not a whole lot to be exact because I still had a lot of homework and there were more jerks waiting to have fun with me. Well other than failing history and dropping out of the robotics team last minute I ended my ninth grade year on a high note. Tenth grade much the same failed history again but finally something good happened to me. Remember my actual girlfriend who is still a good friend of mine, well because she needed a date for her homecoming dance, she asked me if I would go with her and I said yes. Well while we were there, she introduced my to the love of my life. Yes for some strange reason her best friend became my girlfriend and I still thank her for that. And that brings me into the summer before my junior year of high school where I am now. That is how I survived all of my school life so far with two more years of high school and hopefully college in the future. Now comes the fun part where I now get to talk about all the fun, exciting, weird and sometimes dangerous things I have done and keep doing so get get ready for one wild ride.