How My Life Changed in First Grade
And what I have learned from it
First day of school, first grade. I couldn’t contain my excitement! The day I had dreamed of for so long had finally come! And I was ready, early, and dressed up.
In my backpack, all the new school supplies my Mom had carefully bought for me — wrapped notebooks, beautiful markers and colored pencils, a red pencil case with a transparent lid that had tiny red hearts, and, oh, the heart-shaped eraser with a candy smell that I remember to this day! And for lunch, my favorite homemade pastry.
Letters and numbers were not new to me, but I wasn’t expecting the school to be so harsh during those first few months. I was bullied. My lunch was stolen all the time; my precious school materials, too, one by one. My parents complained to the school principal, but she couldn’t do anything about it. Although we all knew who the main thief was. And I knew my bullies — like the boy who kicked me for no reason; the one who stood up on my desk and smeared my notebook with his dirty shoes, ruining my neat work and tearing the paper; the kids who made fun of my hair.
During the recession, I was always by myself. Until, little by little, the kids found out I wouldn’t mind sharing my lunch if they just asked. I will never forget the sight of those many hands stretched up to me…
