Personal Narrative: Why I Am Here

Why I’m Here
Everyday was the same at lunch, always the same table, chair, and friends. Sitting there eating with my perfectly packaged and labeled dysfunctional friend group everyday would cause a dent in my social butterfly wings. The mental labels put on different friend groups created a barrier for the ability to connect with new people. My parents had become the main target for my regulatory venting. One night the idea was brought up about transferring to a public school, Parkway South High School. This transition from a private high school with less than 300 students to a school with almost 2000 was a process that changed my life. Transferring schools helped reveal a concept within the reflection of my experience that you don't have to

feel limited in your ability to break the rules of stereotypes to make more friends.
Ever since middle school two passions that have been created are, playing sports and performing on stage. As our class transferred to high school my two passions were spread farther apart. One of the many instances where this was a challenge was during lunch. The table I sat at was full of “disparate” individuals bonded due to the shared label of outcast. The tables around us felt as if they were permanently labeled too. This was continued even outside of lunch, and it had the feeling of a constant limitation on who you were throughout the whole year. The people on my volleyball team were completely separated from me due to our cliche labels. This made me feel not as comfortable and happy playing volleyball because of the power these labels had and it prevented me from being social and becoming friends with my team. Another reason why I was not completely happy about playing sports was because it separated me from becoming better friends with the people I enjoyed other activities with. This placed limits on my social life and it was hard to express who I wanted to be.
During the process of deciding whether I wanted to change schools, the opportunity came up to go to a “Shadowing” day at Parkway South High School.

This day gave me so much perspective on how limited my private school was compared to Parkway South High. The student I shadowed was Haley Voss, and she was a junior at the time. At first I felt that her being a junior would change my experience due to just being a freshman. She was extremely nice and that was something I saw reflected in the other students I met. Her tour gave me a good sense of the environment at Parkway South. One example of this friendly environment was shown in one of her classes I noticed she had friends who played lacrosse and friends who were just in the Winter Production. It was the first time the idea came up for me that going to a bigger school would have no limit on who you were friends with. There were definitely stereotypes, however they never would stop friendships from happening. After the shadow tour was given I reflected on the day and realized that it gave me the biggest sense of excitement I had ever felt at any

school.
Later, when it was decided that I would be officially going to Parkway South High, it was also decided that I would still play volleyball.

With my previous history on the volleyball teams I’ve played on, the idea of playing on another team was stressful. As I walked in the gym I remember being surprised by how many people were in there. What also surprised me was the fact that everyone already knew I was coming. There were, of course, the awkward and funny introductions but as soon as we started warming up I instantly felt included and was able to focus on showing the coach my skills because of it. As tryouts went on, I realized that the people on these courts were much more than the stereotypical athletic nerd or jock. There were people who sang in choir, performed on Parkways stage, and danced. They shared the same passion of playing volleyball but, didn't let their differences outside of volleyball separate them. This realization was incredible and impacted how I viewed limitations on making friends to seeing these limitations as

nonexistent.
Now, as I am writing this paper I hear my phone buzzing from friends who are all different from me. They are just in school to make friends and expand their friend groups. This proves to me that the change from my small private high school to a large public school had an impact on my life because it brought me to the realization that your interests don’t need to limit the way you make friends and how you make friends. Instead of your interests dividing you from your friends they help distinguish you. Now, the social butterfly is free.