The Decision: How I Became Myself

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Life is full of life-altering choices. Usually we do not even realise the decision we are about to make is going to affect the rest of our existence and even the life of others. Such was the situation for me in elementary school. "Come play with us!" my peers would say. Everybody is so accepting in elementary school; which makes it easy to be a chameleon amongst them. Recess was seemingly the most important aspect of school in the elementary days; everyone could be themselves. Fortunately for me, I was very well-rounded. I played football, basketball, baseball, kickball, and ran track. I played on the playground, played pretend, played board games, and played with friends. Unfortunately for me, as we grew older as a class in sixth grade, everyone I grew up with was changing. Suddenly kids playing pretend on the playground were different; not acceptable. "Why do you hang out with these guys? They're such nerds?" athletic kids would taunt. It was becoming harder to just fit in with everybody. The first instances of bullying arose around this time as well. My chest would constrict with guilt any time one friend of mine would create conflict with another. It became increasingly harder to stay neutral. It always occurred to me throughout sixth grade that everyone was growing apart, but it was not until the last week before the dreaded middle school was the next step that I realised I had to make a choice. Around this time the entire class watched the clock with anticipation. The teacher's monotonous words fell on deaf ears as recess was the only thing on our mind. The same high-pitched bell I have heard since first grade rang. It was recess time. If one had not heard the bell they would still know it to be recess time from the chorus of cheers from my peers, but this time as everyone rushed and passed me to get outside, I trailed behind. The normal feeling of
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