Have you ever changed the way you acted, or the way you talked to make friends? I have. Since kindergarten I have always been the shy one or the quiet one. Then in the beginning fifth grade I met this girl named Anderson; she was also quiet and shy. After a few days of school we started to talk to each other. I had absolutely no idea why she was talking to me, but I found out that we had mutual feelings about the other girls. We both thought that they were too loud and crazy and we didn’t really like loud people. We just liked to stay in our corner and talk peacefully. At the end of my fifth grade year we had our awards ceremony and one of the loud girl named Ashton came up to me and asked me, “ Would you like to come to my house and play?” and I said, “Ummm, sorry, I can’t go. I’m already going with Anderson to watch a movie ” Ashton’s reply was, “Oh, ok.” Then off I went with Anderson to go watch Over the Hedge. We had a fun time, but I really wasn’t too satisfied by my decision of going with Anderson.
The summer before seventh grade I noticed that I wasn’t changing because I didn’t want people to think I was weird. I then told myself, Sage, you really need to change, it doesn’t really matter what people think of you as long as you are having fun. I had always heard people say, “You change, as you get older”, but that wasn’t so true for me.









I was very frustrated that I wasn’t changing and that my mom kept pushing me to make friends. Soon seventh grade came and I found this amazing girl named Corrie, she was always the encourager and helper. I really wanted to be friends with her, but my only problem was Anderson. Anderson did not like Corrie at all, because her mom, Mrs. Kim, ended up being our volleyball coach and to tell you the truth she didn’t like Anderson. On the other hand Mrs. Kim and I were best friend. She saw potential in me as a runner and a volleyball player. In sixth grade I started to play volleyball, but the only thing I did was sit on the bench. Then when Mrs. Kim came I was the starter in all the game and in one game I thought, How can one coach think I am a great player with potential and another think I can’t play? Well the coach that saw potential in me; led my team and me to a wonder victory, we had a great season with a bunch of laughing. Since Anderson never played as a starter in volleyball, she started to dislike volleyball and she started not to like me. Well, ironically, Mrs. Kim was our track coach and Anderson and I were both doing track. Anderson kept telling me that she was going to quit track because of Mrs. Kim. She was a wonderful volleyball coach as well as a track coach and AGAIN she led us through a victorious season. Since Anderson seemed mad I kept trying to stoop down to Andersons level by ignoring the loud people, not talking in class and saying rude comments about people, but that was just holding me back. Eighth grade year was coming up soon and I didn’t really change because I tried to keep Anderson as my friends and she didn’t like changes. So one day I was thinking to go up to Anderson and say, Anderson, I don’t think we should be friends anymore. Just kidding I didn’t say that but I was close to. I think it was a week later that I went up to her and said, “Anderson, can we talk for a minute?” and she said, “Sure. What do you want to talk about?” “Well for starters I think that you don’t want me to be friends with Corrie…. And that you don’t want me to change and make new friends.” After I told her this she had a look on her face like I stabbed her in the back. The only think she said was, “Fine, go make new friends, but I don’t think you will.” Well that small, little comment was a huge motivation to get me out of my zone and make new friends. Finally about a fourth of the way into eighth grade I decide I wanted to grow and change, but HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO CHANGE? Well I thought about it and the only way I could change was to out to open up and get out of my shell. Well that night I went home and in bed I thought, if I changed my self to be friend with Anderson, couldn’t I change to make a lot more friends? Why would I change to be friends with only one person when I could be myself and make a bunch of friends? If you’re thinking the same way as me you can see the problem, too.
As soon as I left Anderson and went to Corrie I saw a huge change. Corrie and I would be on the volleyball court laughing at almost everything and during lunch you could walk in and see a smile that reached from one ear to the other.






Before when I was with Anderson I barely smiled, so it was a huge thing if I showed my emotions. Man, I could have been myself a long time ago and had this much fun. I could have done a lot of different things, but I guess that the way of life. Trial and error.