The Odd One Out

I vividly remember my first day of school in 3rd grade. I went to the library, and everyone was staring at me, including the teacher. I was the only Indian in the entire classroom, and I definitely felt in their actions that they didn't want to include me in their activities. The librarian welcomed me inside, and I remember that the teacher was very kind, but the students were light-years apart from even talking to me. I just had to face it: I was not like the other Armenians in the class (most of the people in Glendale, CA were Armenian).

            Since I was formally in 3rd grade only for a month before summer started, I came in at the end of the year (in the perspective of the other students). Being that I was a new kid at the end of the year, they might have wanted to give me a hard time, but the fact that I still remember every day of that class has to say something about their behavior.

              On the fourth day of school was when the real conflict began. When the teacher asked the daily "star of the day" questions, this one kid always got the answer. Although, I wanted to change that, so I answered it right that day, and suddenly so many people were talking to me. During recess, some "cool kids" decided to make fun of me for being different, but they were also angry that I took away their precious medal. I couldn't talk back to them, but I also couldn't just walk away because there were too many of them. Suddenly, I felt tears in my eyes, and I couldn't take it anymore. I told the teacher and she said she would deal with those bullies. That was the first day of my life that I felt like I wanted to go back to India.

              During one of the later days, when someone was introducing me to tetherball, they decided to bully me while at it, cause that's always fun. He threw the ball with extra force, and me, the new kid, didn't expect that and it hit me square in the face. I still remember getting up and playing with him again and again. I knew that some of the older kids were watching me and thinking, "Man, that kid sucks at tetherball", but I wasn't about to go lecture them on my struggles. I had a game to play. I had a game where I had to stand my ground. Ultimately, that game is life.