First days are always nerve racking. Whether it is the first day back to school, or the first day at a new job. But nothing is more terrifying then your first day of high school. And you can quote me on that. I remember my first day of high school like it was 3 and ½ years ago. I had a horrible night’s sleep. I woke up to the sound of my alarm buzzing by my head. Hauling my lifeless and tired body out of my bed, I put on my glasses as I made my way to the bathroom. I did my usual morning routine, knowing that this time was different. This was leading up to my first day. Finishing up, I returned to my bedroom where I had laid out my uniform nice and neat (something that I wouldn’t do for the next 3 and ½ years). I had my crisp and clean white polo shirt, my lovely grey pants, and most importantly, my navy colour vest with the school logo on it. As I put on my uniform, I knew I was one step closer to walking through the doors of high school. After a quick look in the mirror, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen, where my parents were sitting. Grabbing a bowl and a spoon, I poured myself some cereal and milk (most likely Froot Loops). Could this be my last bowl of cereal, or was I completely over exaggerating what may happen to me in high school? I would soon find out.

Instead of taking the bus on the first day of school, I had my parents drive me. Why? Because that’s the coolest way to start off your high school career. So I threw on my black dress shoes and got into the car with my parents. It felt like a long car ride, and I was nervous the whole way. We finally reached the parking lot and parked the car. We sat there for a moment, my parents clearly seeing my nervousness, and when I realized this, I laughed a little and decided it was time to say our goodbyes. That is when I grabbed my backpack and I stepped out of the car. Before I tell you what happened next, I should explain how pop culture misconstrues the idea of high school. Watch any movie or television show about high school and you will see people being pushed into lockers, wedgied, and pranked in many other terrible ways. There always seems to be a guy who is 7 feet tall and 300 pounds, ready to completely destroy any freshman’s that cross his path. Also, there are always people smoking in the bathroom. I can tell you right now that these ideas of high school are untrue. I just wish someone had told me that on my first day. Back to where I left off. I stepped out of the car and saw many crowds of students walking into the front doors (or is it the back doors? I still don’t understand why the back door of the school is the door most people use to enter. That’s usually what the front door is for. But I digress.). I didn’t recognize a single one of these people, but I none the less gained the courage to follow them into the school. Making sure not to get hit by one of the passing buses, I made my way to the doors. When I walked in, I saw just down the hallway in front of me that there was a huge crowd in the middle of the school. Unaware of where the hell I was supposed to be going, I decided to check out the crowd. This is when I first saw some people that I knew from elementary school. I felt a little relieved and asked them what was going on. They told me that our classes were listed on pieces of paper on the wall and the crowd was just a bunch of confused grade 9s (like me) that were trying to desperately catch a glimpse of the list. I decided to that I should try and check it out and started making my way to the list. Being 6’2” really helped because I could see over pretty much everyone there. I slowly made my way through the crowd and saw who my teacher was. It said Mr. Milan. I could only hope that he was a good teacher (which I would find out later, he was.)

The large crowd of grade 9’s were then herded into the cafeteria, like a bunch of confused sheep in navy vests, where we took a seat by the teacher that we saw on the list. I found my seat and sat down, looking around me as I did. There were a lot of other students that looked just as confused as me, if not more. That made me feel a little bit more comfortable. After a long welcome speech given by the principal, we were told to follow our teacher to our first period class. Sadly, my class happened to be math, which is possibly the worst subject ever (actually, it IS the worst subject ever). I had taken applied math because I knew it was the only subject I was terrible in, which turned out to be a great choice, but most likely also the reason why I only knew about one person in the class. When our group had finally taken our seats in the class Mr. Milan gave us our school map (which I would use for the next 3 and ½ years because I am lazy and would rather look on a map to find my class.) and our school issued lock. I really began to realize that I was in an applied math class when I was the only one in the class that was able to properly unlock my lock (I’m still not sure if the people in that were in that class are able to figure those locks out after 3 and ½ years.). We fumbled with our locks until the bell rang. It was time to make our way to second period. It was also the first time I had to walk through the halls with all the other students. Luckily, nobody bothered me (although I’m sure being tall had something to do with it.). Now, I have a bad memory when it comes to remembering what classes I have had in the past, but I’m pretty sure the next class was gym. Let me just say right now that I am not an athlete. I really loathed the idea of being required to take gym class. I ended up just sucking it up and passing with a very high mark, but that’s another story. When I walked into the gym, I saw some of my friends. We talked about how we were feeling (nervous was usually the answer) and had some fun.

Finally, the bell rang and it was time for lunch. I made my way to the cafeteria, worried about what may happen there. As I said before, movies and TV really don’t portray high school the way it really is, so I expected there to either be a food fight, or a fist fight. I was pleasantly surprised when neither happened. Me and my clueless friends grouped together and found a table, hoping that this wasn’t the table where the mean football players usually sit or something like that. I’m 70% sure I packed a lunch that day, and I think it was also the last day I did so. While I sat there, eating my lunch, I slowly began to realize that high school wasn’t that bad. I was surviving so far. The bell rang and lunch was over. I said goodbye to my friends and headed off for the rest of my classes. Luckily for me, the rest of the day passed by pretty quickly, and before I knew it, 3:00 had arrived. It was time to leave. Once again, I opted out of the bus and had my parents pick me up. They asked me how my day was, and I simply replied, “I survived.”

And survive I did. I knew that the worst was over, and it was only uphill from here. Within a week I had memorized where all of my classes were, made a ton of new friends, and realized that taking the bus to school and buying your lunch in the cafeteria was the much cooler route to take. I always laugh when I think back to my first day and how nervous I was. But I guess everyone was. It’s a new experience for all of us, and a major change from elementary school (speaking of which, I still miss recess.). Luckily, high school has turned out to be one of the best experiences in my life. It may not have always been positive, but I learned a lot about life, and more importantly, how to be a man (in theory, you could say that high school was like a Bar Mitzvah for me.). I guess the only thing I can say about high school is, don’t believe what you see in movies and TV shows (except for Superbad, because that movie is 90% accurate when it comes to high school.), and I am going to miss it when I finally graduate. Four years just flew by me. Now I am planning to go to University, and I have a feeling I am going to be just as scared on my first day there as I was on my first day of high school. To quote Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”