Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.
Fifth. Grade.
Powder Mill Middle School.
I had heard all of the stories.
"You can only write in cursive there."
"They don't have recess every day."
Alright, so maybe those were just misinformed thoughts that I had my my head.
But still.
I was going back to the "bottom of the food chain", just after getting used to being at the top.
In my school system, Elementary School was grades K-4, Middle School was grades 5-8, and High School was grades 9-12. That has since changed, but back when I was going to school, this is how it was.
All three schools are right next to each other.
I thought that's how it was everywhere.
I was wrong.
Apparently other towns and cities like to disperse their schools as far away from each other as possible.
It looks like I lucked out in that aspect.
The schools are right down the street from me.
Literally.
I can get to any of the schools in under a minute.
However, now that I was in Middle School, I could no longer take the bus.
Why?
Because I lived too close.
I took riding the bus too and from school for granted!
School buses all have their own routes, and since I lived so close, I was always one of the last ones to be picked up on the way to school.
On the flip side, it also meant that I always ended up being one of the last ones dropped off after school.
But no longer, now I was left to my own devices.
In the beginning, I would walk to school with a few of my neighbors who were a few grades older than me.
Then I decided to "kick things up a notch".
That's right, I started to ride my bike to school.
It was a "Dyno VFR", all chrome (and rust), with handle bars that were well on their way to being fully "stripped".
At that age, having a bike was like having a car.
I loved that bike.
My morning routine was pretty much the same every day.
Wake up at like 7:15, shower, eat, brush my teeth, play some Nintendo 64, then head off to school for 8:15.
I'd say it took me a full month or so to get used to everything that Power Mill Middle School had to offer.
Everything just seemed "bigger" there.
The classrooms, the gym, the auditorium, the cafeteria, everything.
This was the first time I had experienced things like the "Taco Bar" or "Potato Bar".
It was incredible.
I was actually able to walk to a classroom BY MYSELF, instead of having to walk as an entire class in single file, always on the right side of the hallway, to go from one class to the next.
It really is the "little things" sometimes.
Four Square had been added to the Middle School, (due to its popularity during my 3rd and 4th Grade years) so I knew EXACTLY where my time would be spent during recess.
However, this time I was going up against 7th and 8th graders.
They were ruthless.
But that didn't stop me.
It just meant I couldn't take a day off, and that was just fine with me.
As far as academics went, my favorite subject was definitely........gym class!
Alright fine, I guess it was History.
Only because that was what came the closest to Geography.
Speaking of Geography, this was also the first time I took part in the "Geography Bee".
I had no idea what it was going in.
It started off at the "classroom level".
Basically, my teacher would ask each person in my class a different Geography question.
If you got it right, you made it into the next round.
If you got it wrong, you had one strike.
Unlike baseball, you only got two strikes before you were "out".
Now initially, I thought this was just some "game" that the school had made up.
I was wrong.
This was NATIONAL.
This was going on all over the country at the same time.
Every teacher had a copy of the same book, with the same questions.
Once every classroom had only one person left, those winners would then compete against each other at the "grade level".
I was the only person left for my classroom.
I was moving on to the "grade level" against 5 other classroom winners for my grade.
The winner would then move on to the "school level".
10 students would compete in the "school level"
Each grade would get a certain number of "representatives" to compete at the "school level".
8th Grade = 3 students.
7th Grade = 3 students.
6th Grade = 3 students.
5th Grade = 1 STUDENT.
Yeah, my grade got the shaft that year.
The day then came for the "grade level" competition.
Fun fact, I won that one too!
I was now moving on to the "school level" competition.
That day came, and all 10 students met in the gym, where they had 10 chairs for us to all sit in.
The teacher that was going to be asking us the questions was sitting at a table in front of us.
I found it a bit "odd" that we weren't just doing this in an empty classroom, since there was only 10 of us........
..........That's when they handed each of us a microphone.......
........Then the doors opened at the far end of the gym, and people just kept POURING IN.
They neglected to tell us that the "school level" was going to happen IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE SCHOOL.
My heart started racing.
I got goosebumps all over.
So yeah, I guess I was just a "bit" nervous.
We all know what it feels like when you're in front of a bunch of people and you have to speak.
All eyes are on you.
At least it feels that way.
Every breath.
Every blink.
Every thought.
It feels like they can see it all.
More specifically, it felt like SHE could see it all.
Nothing worse than falling flat on your face when you know your crush for the last three years is watching your every move.
Oh, to be that young again......
Anyway, the rules were the same as the previous rounds.
Two strikes, and you're out.
No pressure.
Except for the fact that I was carrying the hopes of AN ENTIRE GRADE on my shoulders.
No big deal right?
Long story short, I got 3rd Place.
I'd say that was pretty respectable.
An 8th grader got 1st Place, a 7th grader got 2nd Place, and I got 3rd.
I lasted longer than all three of the 6th Grade representatives, and two reps from both 7th AND 8th Grade.
That's a "win" in my book.
It also made me that much more determined to do better the following year, but we'll get to that soon......
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