Chapter Eight - Freshman Year, Part Two

CHAPTER EIGHT

Freshman Year, Part Two

“ADD AN EXTRA year on to your learning, but only if it feels right.”

Let’s talk about English class.

Freshman year English was… complicated. My teacher? It was her first year teaching. My first year of high school. Two rookies, same room. And we didn’t always get along.

She was super into creativity, like really into it. Which, in theory, should’ve been a win, because I like being creative. But her kind of creative meant hands-on projects. Posters, dioramas, and anything involving glue or construction paper. And look, I just wasn’t that kind of student. If the materials weren’t provided, if the instructions were vague, or if the project involved a trip to Hobby Lobby, I was out. Not because I was lazy, just because I hated doing assignments that felt like homework for the sake of looking fun.

That’s why I’ve got a whole rant saved for Science Fair. (We’ll get to that later.)

But back to English, one day, we were reading The Hobbit, or something along those lines, and had to do a creative project. Not a paper. Not a discussion. An actual thing. Not my jam. But I gave it my best shot.

And then came… The Incident.

See, I have this weird trick. I can turn my foot 180 degrees. Like, fully backward. So one day, I decided to pull a little prank before class, pretended I tripped, “injured” myself, and turned my foot all the way around. She didn’t love that. She threatened a detention.
Fair.

I thought it was funny. She thought it was horrifying. From that day on, our vibe was a little off. I don’t think she ever really thought I liked her. Which kind of sucks, because I did like her. She was cool. Just very by-the-book when I was still figuring out what book I was even reading.

I actually had her again junior year, and things were way smoother then. It was a full-circle moment. But yeah, if you’re reading this, sorry about the foot thing. I was being a freshman.

As for the rest of freshman year? I didn’t play a sport.
And I’m glad I didn’t.

There’s this pressure to jump into sports right away. Especially if you go to a school where athletics are a big deal. But the truth is, freshman year sports don’t make or break anything. You’re not starting varsity. You’re not winning a state title. Most of it is learning the ropes, maybe getting knocked around a bit, and figuring out if it’s something you actually want to do.

I almost did football. I went to practice for a week.
Then I realized it wasn’t the right time.
And I backed out.

It wasn’t an easy choice, but it was the right one.
If you don’t know you want to play a sport?
Don’t force it. Don’t dedicate hours of your life to something just because it’s expected. Freshman year is a great time to try stuff, but it’s also okay to take your time. You’ll have plenty of chances to jump in later.

So yeah, freshman year part two.
English projects, awkward misunderstandings, and saying no when you need to.
You don’t have to figure it all out right away.
You just have to keep showing up.