The Happy Side of Things

Sixth Grade, Changes can Be Fun

I sit in the chair in front of who I later learn is Ms. Leugrene. She asked me is I've ever played trombone before, of course I say no. She lets me try the mouthpiece after she demonstrates how to use it. I try and try but I can't seem to make a buzz in it. She then puts the mouthpiece into a trombone and lets me hold it. It's really heavy and super awkward to hold at first. She asks if I want to try the trumpet to see if it will fit better. I feel disappointed that it isn't natural for me to hold a trombone, but trumpet did run in my family so I decided to give it a try. I buzzed much better on the trumpet mouthpiece I realized. The smaller space made it easier. Then when I held it, I felt that this would be perfect for anytime. She told me that the trumpet was a really good choice for me, and I believed her. She then asked if I even wanted to try oboe, I shook my head. She signed on the paper assigning me to my life long instrument, the trumpet. I went home and dreamt of how much fun I'd have playing it.
The first day was a week away and I was nervous. I'd gotten my schedule and walked it a few times. Although I didn't know if I'd be the only one that didn't know anyone, I had dreams where everyone else had someone to talk to and I was an outcast, it was petrifying. I got my clothes all picked out and I was ready. I didn't know what would happen, but I couldn't just stay home this was the school I was going to, no changes could be made.
I woke up and instantly popped out of bed, even though I was exhausted. I had walked my schedule, so I knew I wouldn't get lost. I got into the car and started to reassure myself by talking to my mom and sister. It had always helped me to talk to people when I was nervous, which was an easy task for me. As we walked in, nobody was there yet because we came early, it felt...weird. We walked silently as if we weren't supposed to be there yet, at least that's what it felt like. I waited impatiently in my mothers classroom, I didn't understand how much I would ever like this place, after all I didn't know anyone. Around 7:05 we walked down to the gym and waited until we were dismissed. Little did I know that I would rarely return here in the mornings. When we were dismissed I walked slowly to the band hall, nervous yet excited at the same time. I didn't know if I'd be the only girl playing trumpet, it wasn't an instrument many girls played.
    After walking down the small hallway I reached the doors to the band hall and was greeted by Mr. Liverman. " Good Morning! Go ahead and find a seat!" I smiled and walked in cautiously. He had said to find a seat, but there were no chairs, and everyone else noticed that too, and they wondered around aimlessly. I realized that even though there were no chairs, there was still the floor. So, although no body else had, I sat on the floor. A Korean girl a little shorter than me sat next to me. "Hi my name is Natalie. Do you mind if I sit here?"
    " Of course! My name is Breanna, nice to meet you! Are you going to play trumpet too?" I was anxious to find a girl in my section and I figured she could be one.
" Nice to meet you too! No I'm gonna play the flute." She said with a smile. I didn't know that flutes were in this class too. I wondered what it would be like to play something like the flute. Suddenly, a noise that spooked me at first rang through the school. It didn't sound like a bell, but shortly after it went off the principal Dr. Rice came on the announcements and clarified that it was. She also welcomed all of us sixth graders to Garland McMeans Junior High and wished us a great year. Shortly after the announcements ended, Mr. Liverman came out of the office and introduced himself and Ms. Luegrene to the class. Ms. Luegrene, he explained, was going to be teaching the woodwinds in this class, which happened to be the flutes and oboes. He had them raise their hands and called each of their names to count attendance. Then, he turned my direction and told us that he would be teaching the trumpets and that he in fact played the trumpet when he was in school. When he told us to raise our hands if we played trumpet I looked around to see if I could find any girls. I counted four including me. I made a point to memorize their faces and names, but I didn't remember any of their names when I went to introduce myself to them. I went to a red haired girl and asked for clarification, if she played the trumpet or was going to. She nodded excitedly and said her name was Mallory. I knew right away that me and her would be great friends. I compared schedules with her and found out that we had the same 3rd, 4th, and 6th period classes, which were P.E., science, and reading. When the bell rang for the next class I met up with a girl I'd met earlier that had math with me. We walked giddily to Mr. Jow's class and he had actually put us in seats together after some rearranging at the beginning of class.
Mr. Jow introduced himself and told some jokes while telling us about himself and some of the things he had done. Apparently he had traveled a lot. He also told us that we were going to get started learning fairly quickly. So as soon as we finished setting up our notebooks we started our notes on integers. That class always seemed to be very quick, but I always did very well in math that year I didn't fail or ever come close to, I guess the way he taught was easy for me to understand. The bell rang and me and Kaitelyn walked swiftly towards the gym, I was excited to see Mallory again and to run, I'd felt like running since I had woken up.
We got there as soon as the bell rang and found our seats and prepared to listen to Coach Langford. I honestly zoned out while she talked (she talked for a long time), but I did occasionally nod and act as if I was listening. Luckily, the class went by fast and the bell rang quite soon.
    Since me and Mallory had the same class next we walked together, only did we realize, our next class was literally on the opposite side of the school. So we walked as fast as any sixth grader, because we thought that we'd be late. We ended up making it there with two minutes until the tardy bell. We stood in a line outside of the door while we waited for our seats. I ended up sitting next to a girl named Malissa and another girl named Juhi. I ended up sitting with them at lunch for a few weeks then I started to sit outside with Alexa, Alex, Ashley, and Patrick. They were mostly in my classes after lunch and they stayed my friends the entire year. Me and Ashley would get lunch and the rest of them would save our spots outside, considering they were hard to find.
   The school year went by extremely fast and we had already arrived at our first band concert. I was excited, considering that most of my friends are in band too. I liked my location in the band considering most of my friends played low brass