The Transitions: Part I - Kindergarten to High School

Attending college is really different than attending any other institutions...Really, I mean it.

I'm sure if you think hard enough, you still remember the early days of kindergarten. Learning is...well, pretty much playing, eating snacks, and taking afternoon naps. Being a good "student" meant you just had to keep your hands off others, and don't break any toys.

Then one day, you move from Junior kindergarten to Senior kindergarten, then you graduate" from kindergarten all together. For those of us who didn't attend kindergarten, no worries, you didn't miss much; graduation rate was 99.9%.

Elementary school days seem to be the longest. For the first time we were given something called "homework", of which we did in class...until when Grade 8 happens; teachers suddenly gave us assignments called seminars and essays. Our work became serious enough that plagiarism had to be discussed and dealt with in a bureaucratic manner.

I'm sure you've had memorable elementary school days without thinking too hard about it. Remember your best friend who you got into a fist-fight with? Or how about your first crush on that particular girl or boy who doesn't have cooties unlike the others?

Oh yeah, how can I forget; how about those awkward sex talks in class that made you feel awkward yet curious?

For a while we never understood why we do what we do. Those raging hormones in our bodies lead our rebellion against authorities; we won the battles, but lost the war. High school came...

Emotions, we developed; they allow us to laugh, they make us cry, they let us love...oh how your heart skipped a beat when you had your first kiss, with that girl or boy whom you thought to be your "true love", of whom you'll one day marry and have a family with...

Then reality struck. Groups form. Those buddies from elementary school? Maybe not your friends anymore. Forever takes on a different meaning than what you used to know. Questions lead to confusion, which lead to more questions. We were mature enough to know, but helpless to do. Off to senior year we go; finally, some power we were awarded after sitting through the most boring drivers' ed, 10 hours of risking-life-on-the-road, 99 near accidents, and a jokingly-easy road test. Remember that thrill when you first inserted that key into the ignition? Turn the key, turn on freedom, and accelerate! Instead of being ruled, we ruled the school. We took over and became council presidents.

Over the years, with the hundreds of lessons we learned not from the school but from the mistakes we made, we were handed our graduation diploma. Finally, high school's done...for good.