Assignment #22- Ellis Padgett- School Switcher

I transferred elementary schools two times over the course of my childhood. The first school I attended was Community Montessori, for three years. The memories are still so clear. I remember how I would cry every day when I saw the gym teacher, who for some reason terrified me to the core. I remember a girl named Grace eating the uncooked beans meant for practicing counting, and then throwing them all up during circle time. I remember getting in trouble for starting a sword fight.
I was pulled out of that school when I was six. And then came my next challenge: Maxwell Elementary, Spanish Immersion. This time I cried because I missed the gym teacher at my old school.

The Spanish Immersion program gave me a wonderful experience (though I am sorry to say I am now taking French). It surrounded me with culture I would've never otherwise known. I allowed me to perform Shakira's "Waka Waka" at the Latino Festival downtown. As Spanish drained out of my vocabulary, memories stuck with me. To this day, when I see my former art teacher, I am greeted with a hug. Yet I switched out! Third grade was over, so it was time for new beginnings...

At Ashland Elementary! I shadowed for a day there, and the first thing that happened was Annie Bohannon gave me a welcome drawing that she made (thank you, Annie). In fourth grade, I formed the origami club, whose talent quickly exceeded my own. In fifth grade, Alison Beal hugged me so tight that the teacher had to tell her to release me.

These transitions from school to school were my unusual circumstances. Once the cause was financial, the other social. Both times, I was plucked from familiarity and placed into foreign territory. But I am thankful for them. Not just because I now feel like I know half of the high school population here in Lexington. These switches helped me learn to adapt to new environments, and be comfortable around new people. When I started up at a new school, a lot of the kids already knew each other (especially at Ashland). But I didn't cower in the corner and reminisce about the old days; I made friends, and I moved on. In the moment, I didn't even realize that those were phases of my life coming to a close. It was just life. This makes college a good fit for me because I now handle new environments well. There is always potential from a situation. When I go to college, all it is is me starting a new school. And well, that's always led to amazing memories before.