Story from America: Winter ups and downs
By Kittipak Tantichot
Winter
There is no such thing as a perfect place for someone; that place does not exist. During the winter term there were some ups and downs for me.
In boarding school, a person wants to get along with everyone because they will see them at least ten times a day. It’s not like a day school where you can just go home, and be alone. At boarding school a person is never alone. When I’m in my room I prefer to be alone, because I like the silence and the opportunity to think.
American kids disagree with me; they LOVE to come in your rooms and have a wrestling match in front of you. I don’t mind the wrestling, I mind the sweat splattering on my face, as I try to read, also all the things I have to clean up after they knock them down.
One day they knocked over my model ship, and it broke into dozens of pieces. That did it. I had had it. It’s not that I hadn’t warned them before; it happened on a daily basis – and I snapped.
“Get out of my room!” I hollered, “I need some privacy!” They all stopped and stared, gaping. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. These were the popular kids; no one stands up to them. They got up from the ground, whilst still staring in disbelief.
“Why do you have to be such a loser?” Danny, the leader of the group exclaimed.
“Yeah, why do you?” Jim, one of his friends backed him up. I took a deep breath and calmed myself.
“Just get out,” I said. They gave me the stare and slowly walked out.
Soon, just because of that one incident they treated me worse and worse, and spread rumors about me throughout the school. I was depressed for a while.
I felt worse by the day, until I knew I didn’t want to live like this any longer, I had to do something. I would be the first to stand up to these popular kids.
Just like any other day, they huddled closely back into the dorm, blaring rap music through the speakers, and teasing each other about who they wanted to date.
I occasionally hung out with them, but I never truly felt happy. I went up to the head of the gang. I went right up to him, so close that there were just a few inches between him and I. I could smell the tuna sandwich under his breath that he had for lunch as I stared deep into his eyes.
“Leave me alone. I’m sorry if I ever did anything to you, but I need you to leave me alone,” I said firmly. I then walked out, while Danny just stood there, stunned.
Then things then took a turn for the better. I guessed I earned their respect for doing what I did. They left me alone and I stopped hanging out with them, because they were not a good influence for me. I eventually found kids that truly cared and understood me.
With these new friends there were many wonderful experiences .There was once when, because of almost impossible weather circumstances, the school declared a snow day.
As a Thai boy I got excited when I heard the word “snow” and gladly accepted when my friends invited me to go sledding with them. The delicate, crunchy snow was up beyond our knees, and we sledded using cardboard paper. Finally, maybe not the brightest idea, we all jumped on a semi-frozen pond. Luckily it didn’t crack.
I was finally happy and found the experience that I left home to find. I am proud to call them my best friends. In boarding school, a person must get to know everyone, because the person that you ignore one day may be your best friend in the next.