Now, it did not help things at all that I required glasses that made my eyes look approximately 8,000 times their size, or that I had braces, or that I still had no idea what dressing nicely meant. However, this is not a horror story, it’s more of a coming of age. It was in middle school that I made my first true best friend, Devin, and we pretty much braved the weird world of middle school together beginning at the end of sixth grade. While middle school was weird, it did serve as the transition period for the person I am today. In the course of middle school, I began brushing my hair more regularly, started to dress nicer, discovered deodorant, got my braces off, and traded my industrial strength magnifying glasses for contacts. It was in this period that I really began to shape myself into the Tristan of today, both physically and mentally. Most people will look back at middle school and cringe when the realize what they used to look like, and maybe because of who they used to be, but I’m not of the same mindset. You see, I really appreciate the growing period that I was able to experience in middle school because it allowed me to figure out who I am. Sure, it can be argued that high school is more important in developing character, and that’s true to an extent, but middle school is many times more raw and unrefined than high school, so it was honestly more of a self-discovery for me than anything else I’ve ever experienced.
Whenever the subject of middle school is brought up to a high school senior, I’m fairly certain the collective sigh that resembles dread mixed with relief can be heard ‘round the world. For me, the story is pretty much the same. You see, until fifth grade, I had attended elementary school in the Spring school district, but when my mom remarried, we moved into the Klein area, and I began attending Haude. Now, it was a good transition, but I had not been given the opportunity or the time to create that many friendships on my way into middle school, so I felt I was at a bit of a social disadvantage.