In 6th grade when I moved out of my old house I felt kind of lost. I was really confused about why I was moving because I didn't really understand. It turns out it was because my parents were getting a divorce. I didn't ever expect this to happen because we all seemed so happy together, or at least I thought we did. I could feel a lot of tension between them before we moved out, but I just tried to ignore it. This whole change was really hard for me to deal with because I had been so used to my old life. It’s all I’d ever known.
The first day of school seemed like the end of the world to me. I knew absolutely no one and since it was middle school everyone had already known each other for a year. I vividly remember band class on my first day. It was 6th hour so I was really annoyed about how the rest of the day had gone, and I played percussion which I was horrible at. Usually the people in your band class are your best friends, but since I didn't know anyone I felt extremely left out. "CRASH" I slammed the cymbals together at the completely wrong time. "Did I seriously just do that?" I thought to myself. Everyone's heads snapped back and they were all glaring at me. I just stood there in the most awkward way possible. I asked to go to the bathroom but didn't go back to class the whole hour. I went to the bathroom and cried. I wasn't crying because I messed up, I was crying because I felt so left out. I could feel my tears sting my cheeks and my cries echoing through the bathroom.
The next 3 weeks at school were equally as bad as the first day. I would go to all of my classes and sit in the back of the room alone. Every day in 6th hour I would stand in the back of the room messing up cymbal and snare drum parts and my teacher, Ms. Roland-- who actually turned out to be one of the nicest ladies ever-- would yell at me. I would look at the flute section every day and I would see them giggling and having the time of their lives. They all seemed like they accepted each other and I desperately wanted to be a part of that.
So One day I decided to stay after school and beg Ms.Roland to let me play the flute. She surprisingly had no problem with it. She gave me a flute to practice with and the next day in class I sat with all of the other flutes. I was in last chair because I had no idea how to play it. I heard a crinkling sound to my left. I looked next to me and there was a blonde girl next to me shoving veggie straws into her mouth behind a stand. “You want some?” she mumbled to me. I didn't want to get on Ms. Roland’s bad side because I was already new and had no idea what I was doing. She told me that her name was Tiffany and we talked the rest of the hour. By the end of class I felt like I’d already known her for years. I finally felt like I had a friend.
Tiffany introduced me to the rest of our section and I became friends with them instantly. Everyday I was so excited for band because that was the class that I could actually talk and be myself in. I would giggle with everyone in the section like I had seen them doing before. Me having friends in band gave me confidence to talk to people in my other classes and eventually I had at least one friend to talk to in every class, which was a lot for me. Most of my friends were people who were also in band so we had things in common to talk about.
Now, four years later, I’m first chair, in marching band and I’ve made even more friends than I even thought was possible because of band. If I wouldn't have asked to  play the flute I don’t think I would even be in band anymore. If I wasn't in band then I definitely don't think that I would be as happy as I am now because band makes me feel like I’m part of something that is so much bigger than just myself.
The new friends that I made helped me feel better about my parents getting a divorce because they gave me something else to think about. I don’t know what I would even be doing right now if I hadn't met Tiffany because we do everything together. We’re in drama club, marching band, and we even work together.
From all of this I learned that when you’re in a bad situation, eventually things will get better and easier. Playing the flute helped me make friends in band, and the friends I made in band helped me make friends in other classes. When I first moved to Clarkston, I didn't think that I would ever make friends or be happy but being in band definitely proved me wrong.