Why Write?

Writing not only helps you process life, it can be a great encouragement to others! Angie, a 6th grader, put herself in a vulnerable position by posting this essay. Surprisingly, her essay got a record number of feedback notes because one after another, students shared that (surprise!) they too struggle at times with friendship.

A student from another school wrote, "I wish there was someone like Ms. Susanna at my school!"

After seeing the massive response, I sent Angie's essay to Mr. Scott, the curriculum coordinator at ICS, who then posted it for the entire school staff, under the heading "Don't judge a student until you've walked a kilometer in her flip-flops."

Writing tip: Notice how Angie begins with a truism regarding "time". She nicely ties the ending back to the beginning by using the metaphor of a tree to describe herself.

Friendship Takes Time By: Angie Sep. 26, 2017

Everything takes time. It takes time to make a tree grow; it takes time for a child to become an adult; it takes time to adjust to a new country. Friendship also takes time to grow.

I used to think that making friends is easy. The reason why I always thought making friends is easy was because I already had friends to play with everyday! I felt like I didn’t need to worry about such things. As a matter of fact, I always had friends to walk with, was invited to many kinds of parties because everyone knew me, and I had friends to eat with everyday.

My life changed last August when I entered an unknown school I had never gone to, with unknown friends I hadn’t met in my life. I would rather go to my old school. I thought this would be a school of hard knocks. Instead of being in my old school with the people that I know, now everything was the opposite, such as, having no friends to talk with, no one inviting me out, and sitting alone with the lunch as my only friend. My life had changed into a miserable life on my own.

Now I meet with Ms. Susanna once a week talking about how to have more friends and learning more to be a better friend. She gives me a homework chart to do, for example; a good friend shouldn’t bully us or be unfriendly to us. Then we will choose a friend to consider according to the chart; then you tick off the chart about a friend, so we will know who is not a good friend or who is a good friend. So no friend will trick us.

Thus, I have learned to be a better friend. I’ve got more friends in 6th grade than in 5th grade. Specifically, I have friends to eat with everyday, friends to play with everyday, friends to talk with everyday, even many friends to go to class together.

Now, I feel that I belong here now. After just four sessions with Ms. Susanna, I’ve got more friends!!! Is that amazing for you? I feel like I’m like a tree with lots of roots growing bigger with branches that keep on growing in time. Similarly, my friendships will be stronger.