Big changes

Wow! Summer has gone by fast! Now there are only a few days left until the new school year begins! If you have been looking for my column this summer, I decided to take the summer off from writing articles. I took the time off because I felt like a needed a break after all the stuff I had done with the Aqua Girls and the Global Finals Competition. After taking the summer off, I feel like I am ready for the challenge of writing for my column again.

I can’t believe the school year is starting in a few days. I have so many changes coming this year. I am entering the fifth grade and that means I am starting middle school! I am not sure how I feel about this big change except that I have mixed feelings about it. 

First of all, I can’t wait to meet my teachers. I have Ms. Mullarkey, Mrs. Mitchell, Mr. Sherwood, Mrs. Lion and Mrs. Battershell. People have said that they are all nice. Having five teachers is going to be a lot different from one or two. I’m looking forward to switching classes and having a new teacher for each subject. I just hope that I don’t get lost!

I’m mainly nervous because Bay Middle School is really big. There are so many hallways and doors that I don’t feel like I know where I’m going at all! I’m glad they have signs that label the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade hallways. That should help, but then I worry that I will have trouble opening my locker. I have practiced, but sometimes I still can’t get it opened.

My friends and I are excited to decorate our lockers. We are planning to cover the lockers with design paper, mirrors, magnets, memo boards, and I even know someone who has a clock. Do you know you can also buy a chandelier, a rug and a curtain? I was not allowed to buy any of those things because my mom thinks those things are not necessary.

Another cool thing about middle school is I can play a band instrument. I am planning to play the trumpet but am also interested in percussion. I live near the high school and every time I hear the band play I can hear the drums and the trumpets, and they sound like so much fun.

Perhaps the biggest change coming up for me this year is I will be moving to South Africa for eight months beginning in January with my family. My dad got a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the Cape Town area and we are all going with him. I think it will be an amazing experience for me but I will miss Bay and my friends. My mom is planning to home-school me while we are there so we can go places and do things that we can’t do here in Bay Village. I will write more about South Africa as we get closer to when we leave.

One more change is the name of my column. Sadly, I'm not a fourth-grader anymore. Now that I'm in middle school, my new column name is: "Musings from the Middle." 

I think the changes coming up for me this year seem scary now, but once they are all over, I will probably look back and wonder why I spent so much time worrying. 

Audrey Ray, fifth-grader at Bay Middle School

I am Audrey Ray. I am ten years old. I live in Bay Village and go to Bay Middle School. I will be in 5th Grade this fall.

Read More on Musings from the Middle
Volume 4, Issue 17, Posted 10:04 AM, 08.21.2012