Challenges, Feared Then Faced.

I was five years old when I made the transition from preschool to kindergarten. I had gone to preschool at Woodstock Elementary, and I would now be going to Longview Elementary to attend kindergarten. Preschool had been fun for me, and I had made lots of friends. However, all of my friends would be attending a different school the coming year than I was. the summer after which I would be going to Longview was a very scary one for me. All I could think about when the topic of going to a new school was how i would not have any of my friends, and I was afraid of all the older kids that would be at my new school. There were many nights when my parents and I would have talks about what I needed to expect in the coming school year, and I would always end up in tears because I could not stand the thought. I was actually convinced that I was not going to make any new friends, and I really didn't like the feeling of growing up at all. The dread that I had been feeling all summer was nothing compared to the dread I felt a week before kindergarten started. I reaelly started to think about what would be happening that coming week, and I felt a hugt knot in my stomach. After a great deal of more thought, it finally occurred to me that there was nothing I could do to prevent it from happening, so I changed the way I thought about it. I don't know that I really consciously made the edecision to change my way of thinking about it, but somehow I did because when the day came that I would be starting kindergarten, I was almost feeling excitement. my mom walked me to Longview and all the way that we walked, I felt like I was being so brave! I look back at it now, and find it funny how brave and invincible I thought I was. All I had really done was accept that there was nothing i could do to change what was inevitably coming, and therefore changed my state of mind on the matter. It really paid off because I ahd a fantastic first day of school. Being brave in this situation, no matter how insignificant it seems now, really changed that event for the better, and taught me a lesson.

Sierra Iams