As she strolled nervously on the first day of school, she could feel tension rise upon her as she went to talk with her friends. For the first time, she had felt out of place, anxious about the rest of the year, she loved going back to school, why did she feel so weird about it now? She thought to herself. As questions swarmed her mind, she could feel a light tap on her shoulder. Her best friend with an excited expression, never happier to give her a hug. And it did feel like the best hug in the world to her. The feelings that controlled her mind quickly left within seconds. As she felt what she had been waiting to feel for so long, she felt relief and knew that the day would go by. 

But things after that had just started to worsen, and she could feel her positive mental state somewhat deteriorate. She didn’t know why everything in school felt so off. And couldn’t put into words what was wrong because it was such a bizarre feeling to her, something she had never felt before. As time went on, it was a roller coaster of emotions, which she didn’t feel like it made sense for her to feel. However, she slowly started to reconnect with friends, as she’d been a bit distant for a while. Because she remembered how amazing her summer had been because of how much she was able to spend time with people she loved. And she knew that deep inside she missed that. 

Hanging out with people was her way of escaping her problems and realizing how amazing the world can be. Soon things started to feel more normal and she felt in place.

 It was the first time she hung out with some of her friends after a long time in late October. When most of her friends had left, she decided to open up to one of her friends. The conversation gave her exposure to the real world and what really matters. It was one of the most meaningful conversations she had ever had. It was about the concept of happiness. Even though she was feeling more comfortable at school, the way someone thinks is naturally hard to change. Her friend gave her some advice from her experience. And though at first, it wasn’t too relevant to what she had just explained, it made more and more sense as she thought about it. The conversation kept progressing and she realized what she had been missing all along. The people in her life always cheered her up and made memorable experiences with her. 

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in things that you forget about so many more things that truly do matter.