The remains of a sandwich glue to the wall. One piece of lettuce hangs there, stuck with mustard. The noise level is unbearable. It’s as if I am at that Justin Bieber concert I went to months back. Similarly, the concert consisted of screaming fans making loud noise, uncalled for food and cup throwing, and mass amounts of people. This isn’t a concert, though—not even close—this is high school.

“Don’t sit there,” the guy with the brown flippy hair tells me. “That’s the weird table.”

As I walk into the crowded lunch room, it’s like I stepped into a jungle, and everyone is out for prey. This would not have happened in my private school.

Throughout elementary and middle school, I heard hushed noises in school. The screaming and shouting was not tolerated at the prestigious University Lake School. If it were that loud, a teacher clapped their hands three times—which signaled silence—followed by students doing the same.

In middle school, going to public school was my dream. Football games, pep rallies, and 2,400 people to connect with provided a greater opportunity for lifelong friendships, more academics and more social life. University Lake School was the exact opposite. Our Friday nights consisted of dressing up and going to the Oconomowoc Lake Club, eating exquisite foods that are hard to pronounce and leaving a thirty dollar tip. Public school Friday nights were filled with fun and excitement.

“There goes the running back down the yard line, he’s at the 20…10…5… “TOUCHDOWN!”

I longed for a different high school experience. Then, during my sophomore year, I became one of those kids. I found myself going to games every Friday night whether it was home or away. I became “one of those kids.”

Stepping foot on campus for the first time was overwhelming. And walking the halls was incredibly more difficult. Pushing and shoving…the smell of sweaty gym socks reeked throughout the school…couples held hands and made out in the hallways…what is this? Did I mention the way people dressed? Baggy sweatpants and raggy shirts flooded the hallways.

This was so different. And this was hard to get used to.

In transferring schools, I learned there are different types of people. From going to a prep school and dressing in khaki pants and polo sweaters, to going to a school where the students don Colombia blue and Scarlet red spirit sweatshirts, I learned about life.

In learning new phrases, meeting new people and trying new things (whether it be in a sport or a club), I found who I want to be. And through what I have experienced in switching schools, I have been shaped to live a certain way.

The halls of dorms and college buildings fill with signup sheets and ideas for campus lists of things to do. What to join? College is filled with ample opportunities.

Purple and white flood the cafeteria as I walk in on the first day. Flashbacks of that high school cafeteria are encrypted into my brain. The football players sit at the first table on the left, Club U-Dub-Dub is to my immediate right. I walk alongside my new friend as we conquer college together.

In life, I will always be looking for “the right place to sit” and hopefully I’ll find my place here, at University Wisconsin-Whitewater.