Although I am filled with bitterness towards the 7th grade, sometimes a good thing would happen. It's a minor story, but an important one to me. One day, shortly before the start of 8th grade, I was babysitting a neighbor. Let's back up for a minute and explain something. Going into the 8th grade was kind of scary for me. This was the big transition from grade school (about 40 kids in your grade) to the junior high (about 1000 kids in the 8th grade). A different teacher for each subjects, lockers, bus rides, the whole deal. I had about 2 weeks until school started and I was starting to stress a bit.
Instead of the kid's parents relieving me at the end of the job, it was her older brother, a high school senior! And then he did one of the nicest things he could have done. He actually talked to me for a while. He asked me if I was nervous about starting junior high. I admitted I was. He then said the very best thing. Basically he said: You know, it's a really big school, and there are lots of different people you'll meet. But there are so many people, you'll meet people who are just like you. So you should just be yourself.
And with that, I was no longer afraid of starting junior high. In fact, I couldn't wait.
So, Jay Van Cleve, you rock!
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