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Middle School.
The smell of Polo cologne on my boyfriend.
Lockers.
Serious Crushes.
Detassling.
Dances and boys.
BOYS.
Basketball and track.
Pop machines.
Home-ec. Shop. Drafting.
Fond memories these are...
Middle School Days.
The majority of my writing came from letters to my friends in middle school. Outside of school, I signed up in a magazine to be paired up with a pen pal anywhere in the United States. I was paired with a girl named Kim Jecmen, who lived in Ohio. She and I constantly mailed each other letters from fifth grade until I probably reached seventh grade. We slowly lost touch with each other as our lives became busier and busier.
To Find Out More about my Pen Pal, Click Here
While in school, I constantly wrote letters about anything ranging from gossip, to that night's events, to boys, and even lunch. It didn't matter; I loved to write letters. I also got a lot of letters taken away from me in class too! Now that I reflect on that particular time, I realize that perhaps the reason I wrote so many letters is because that was the way I felt comfortable communicating at that time in my life. I think middle school years are the toughest for kids, as your body changes and you are trying to discover yourself, and trying to fit into some type of group. I just wanted to be accepted by someone, anyone. That was definitely a rough time in my life. Perhaps those letters to me, were the best form of communication for me. If I couldn't express myself out loud, I could put it on paper.
Click here to read a double-voice of a letter to my friend
When I thought about what to write on middle school, letters to friends were the first thing that came to mind. It's very sad that I don't remember much about doing writing and reading in classes. I do recall doing a lot of work out of English books. It seems like I really didn't write too many papers from sixth to eighth grade. If I did, they weren't exciting enough for me to remember. One thing that we were constantly doing in eighth grade were diagrams. I absolutely hated those things! I can't even really write that much about them because I never understood them very well. I know the whole point of them was to help us understand how everything fell into the sentence, but back then that didn't matter to me. I never understood diagrams, and I still know how to write a sentence. I don't think that schools really teach them much now, (I know I will never put my students through that) and kids aren't missing anything from not learning it either!
I continued my love for reading, both inside and outside the classroom. I remember going to the library with my mom and wanting to read Judy Blume's book, "Forever". This was about a relationship and its first sexual experience. I was afraid that if I checked that book out, my mom would think I was having sex. So, I never did read it. I did however, read quite a few books from Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High series. These books were about two twins, Elizabeth and Jessica, and all of the problems kids confront in their high school years. I was really into magazines during this time too. My favorite magazines were Teen, Seventeen, and Young Miss. I think I probably enjoyed reading magazines better than books during those three years. I had a rough time in middle school, as every kid does usually at that age. These magazines touched more head-on with issues that kids my age went through. They seemed more "real-life" than books did. That is why I preferred them more back then. It was fun to read about embarrassing things that happened to girls my age, informative to read articles on how to lighten your hair or get rid of a pimple, and even better that it wasn't just a story with characters, it was real life with real people.
My middle school years were some of the hardest days of my life, and I think I neglected writing and reading during those three years. Once I had a better idea of the person that I was becoming, I started doing these things more frequently. I couldn't believe that three more years of school were behind me. I was finally going to the "big house." Three Rivers High - HERE I COME!
Click here to start reading about High School Days!