I never had reason to be nervous for my first day of school. I was always surrounded, for better or worse, by family and people I grew up with. Mom was just a quick walk down the hall and recess always provided more family time than I ever wanted.
That was, until, I switched schools. At quite possibly the worst time in adolescence (besides 7th grade of course) I had to move to the town next door and start from scratch. I entered my sophomore year of high school with a barely grown-out Faith Hill pixie cut and all things new.
Now, there was one bright, glimmering piece of sunshiney hope in the midst of this most evil of high school plights. I had one contact. Over the summer I providentially sat on a bus beside a girl that went to my new school. I was sure she was God’s gift to me that summer.
Turns out, she was really God’s gift to my brother as she ended up marrying him, but that’s another story. It has quite the meet-cute if you get what I’m saying. And yah, she’s God’s gift to me too, my brother just stole her ????
Back to my first day of new high school.
My back-to-school shopping consisted of raiding the woman’s clearance section at JC Penny’s. I went out on a very large, straggly limb and wore a spaghetti strap top. Have no fear, I modestly cloaked my shoulders in a denim short-sleeve button-up. I left it unbuttoned. Sexy and I know it? No. Not even close.
As soon as my mom’s minivan sped away my guts turned to liquid. I spent my first five minutes at my new campus desperately searching for a bathroom. Preferably, a bathroom with a secret exit that would take me anywhere but back to this scary school.
When it was time to face the music that was a raucous chorus of high schoolers reuniting from summer vacation, I froze. Well, everything froze except my guts. What the heck was I wearing? Why did I ever cut my hair? Why did I let my parents move 45 minutes away from everything I knew and held dear?
This was no grand adventure. This was a nightmare. And I was about to poop my pants.
Two vivacious girls in matching school-spirity teeshirts came bounding up to me. They were friendly as could be and eager to meet the obvious newbie. (Jaqcui, this was you and Jules by the way). I tried to answer back, but nothing was working right. My tongue was somehow stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I felt that my whole face was twitching like a dying cricket. And those damned guts…
To this day I hope that I responded with at least my name. I’m not sure if anything came out of my frozen cotton mouth.
I think I made a thousand promises to God if he would just let me disappear. I just couldn’t do it. I was a small-town girl and had no place in this big ol’ private school. While I was contemplating a vow of life-long celibacy, the skies parted and my friend from the bus floated forward.
Thank God.
“Hey Hillary!” she chirped. She remembers my name.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Hopefully everywhere but that bathroom I just demolished.
And with that, she led me to her cohort of friends and I became one of the gang.
It was the best worst first day of school.
Do you have a memorable first day of school? Did you have to move mid-high school like me? Did God part the skies and send you a curly haired future sister-in-law?
awh shucks! Well to be quite honest, i was intimated by your beauty, here you were so self conscious, i was nervous of my stingy curly cues slicked to my head and awful bangs. Who knew, ha. I’m so thankful Andrew S introduced us at Frontliners, I remember meeting you very clearly, sitting the round table in the fellowship hall. It was a life changing meet and I am forever grateful ???? Love you sis!
I don’t want to be friends with Katniss – I want to BE Katniss! I loved the Hunger Games books. I’m reading the Game of Thrones books now. Not exactly an easy weekend read though. I think I’ll be 90 when I finish them.
I don’t think it matters how cool I thought I was…looking back at those first day of school pics, i was the biggest nerd! ha!
Hahaha! Well, at least you thought you were cool. I KNEW I wasn’t. Zero confidence was not really a good thing.
Sheesh! I had no idea you thought I was beauty-ful! Thanks for looking past my bad haircut and dorky clothes. I am forever grateful too! We have such a cool story ????
Oh my. You make my first day sound like a walk in the park. I’ve never been able to fathom how your family got through that time. I know “that time” is never really gone, but it is so encouraging to see you all doing well! Your mom is a rockstar. And so are you.
I remember I lost like four pounds that week because I just felt so nervous!
I am so glad to have left first days of school behind and entered adulthood! ????
OK, something weird is happening. I tried to comment on your BFF post and my comment is here. Sorry! It’s early and I haven’t had my coffee yet…
Oh that is a fun story to remember! The first days of school were always a little nerveracking!
In the middle of 10th grade, my mom picked us up and moved us to Hawaii. If it sounds picturesque, let me just say– it wasn’t. We moved to the YWAM base where my dad had grown up and EVERYONE there knew who I was. There was no wiggle room, especially for a kid who preferred books to people! (Meanwhile, my family was going through its biggest loss ever, and we were all pretty wrung out with no friends, few contacts, and a single-room studio apt with beds on the floor=) And when we moved back after 7 months, everyone in T-town asked how our vacation had gone. It was the adventure that probably kept us together (especially my mom!), but probably the hardest thing we’d ever been through.
It was also at this point that I began to really like my mom. She knew high school in HI at the base was pretty much a joke, so we played hooky a lot. When we had bad days missing my dad, no problem. Let’s go for a picnic or a hike instead. She stood up for her kids, and started coming out of that hole we’d all fallen into.
Seriously! Ugh. That day was so freaky for me!
Hahaha…I feel your gut pain! Demolished a few school bathrooms myself. Glad it all worked out and you got yourself a spankin’ brand new sis-in-law out of it. ????
Weird! I wonder what’s going on with the comments? And I agree: I want to be Katniss too ????
I got myself a great sister in law AND my husband out of that high school so it was a fair price to pay!