Have you ever wondered what it would be like to move in the middle of high school? For me, that question became a reality on Dec. 26. 2013 at midnight, the day after Christmas, when I left for a town I had never seen in my entire life. I said goodbye to my friends and family, along with the area that I had always known, literally the minute Christmas Day was over. It was time for me to move to South Dakota, a state with a small population of only 800,000 people. Coming from Pennsylvania, that was quite the transition.
When I first started high school in South Dakota, I was unintentionally made to feel like an outsider by many of my classmates. I was often mistaken to be a freshman, when in reality, I was a junior. Every time I said certain words, some people would look at me as if I didn't know how to speak, just because I had a different accent than them. Eventually, their fascination with my accent did subside, but that didn't take away from the fact that most of them did not know me, and I didn't know them either. Many of them were in their own little, or large, friend groups and they would make inside jokes that I'd never understand because they originated from a time before I moved. I'd have the impulse to say an inside joke of my own, then remembered that nobody there would understand it, so I'd keep to myself most of the time.
After a few days of being at my new school, I got to know some people in my classes, and they asked me to hang out. They would say things like, "Let's hang out at Great Bear!" and I wouldn't know what they meant. They would be confused about how I didn't know what Great Bear was, as it was the only place to ski in the area. The fact is, I didn't grow up there and wasn't familiar with many areas yet. They unintentionally made me feel stupid for not knowing something that I shouldn't have been expected to know.
Moving 1,200 miles away was walking into a new school and knowing absolutely nobody.
Moving 1,200 miles away was sitting in class during senior year while teachers and students alike were reminiscing about events I never got to witness.
Moving 1,200 miles away was graduating high school surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
It was sitting at graduation when my mind was with my old friends, who I always thought I’d walk with.
While moving 1,200 miles away was the cause of all of those things, it was also the reason I met the love of my life.
It was the reason I escaped years of bullying that seemed almost endless.
It was what enabled me to move on with my life, to bigger and better things, and after a while, meet people who I wouldn't trade for the world.
Moving 1,200 miles away was the most difficult, but also the most rewarding experience of my life.
Last but not least, moving 1,200 miles away enabled me to grow into the person I am today, and for that, I could not be more grateful for the opportunity.
