I'm Struggling and I Know That

Two

Fifth grade!

And my first time back at a real school since I left in the third grade. I remember being so excited to finally make friends again. Having been home schooled for so long it was really hard to meet people and make friends and I was glad to be getting back into the thick of it.

My first day, I walked into my classroom and saw a group of girls at a cluster of desks. There was Lucy a straight haired brunette, Elizabeth a blond with short hair and glasses, Sierra a tall girl with thick black hair, and Danielle a curly haired girl with a big smile. They immediately invited me to sit with them and we all became fast friends.

Every day at lunch, I'd switch between sitting with my girl group and chatting and then going to trade Pokémon cards with the boys. Gerardo and Edgar were two sweet boys I got close to that year. I remember sometimes I'd even go to the park after school and me and them would sit on the swings and swap our Pokémon cards.

I was so happy and comfortable at my new school that one day I decided to write a class newspaper. Writing was starting to become a big interest of mine. I loved making little picture books on printer paper and stapling them together to read when I was little, and now that I was 10 I was ready for the next step. So I asked my teacher if it was okay for me to write a class newspaper and stick it up on the wall for everyone to read and she agreed.

I got right to work, drawing little pictures in the margins and writing stories about the goings ons of my classroom on notebook paper and taping it together. I even did contests sometimes and would give out little prizes.

It was a hit. Every time I finished a paper, half the class clustered around it to read the whole thing. I felt like the coolest kid around.

I had friends, a popular newspaper and I was finally happy, but I struggled a lot with staying organized and turning in my assignments. My backpack was an assortment and papers and food and binders overflowing with old projects. Oh, and my endless amount of drawings. One of the many ways I dealt with my ADHD was by doodling to try and stay focused. While my fifth grade teacher was pretty understanding about it as long as I was paying attention, my teachers became a lot less understanding as I got older.

Sixth grade wasn't quite as smooth as Fifth though.