There are many moments in life that can change you. Some impact you in big or small ways. Many moments have changed me, but there is one this year that impacted me the most.

No one talks about what it is like to change schools, especially in 8th grade. The last year of middle school. The last year to have fun before all the homework starts to pile up. After years of being with friends and having fun, you have to leave them. Many say it is a fresh start and that there will be more opportunities.

The things they don’t consider is the part where you try to make new friends. The part of a new school where you are trying to find friends who have that spark with you. The friends who instantly connect with you like your old friends did, but they don’t. They don’t talk about the pain when you see your best friend replace you. Finding someone else since you are no longer there. Seeing her smile and laugh with someone else that isn’t you anymore. That is what changed how I view the world this year. No one can replace them, and that is where I saw that now everyone can be replaced. Friends come and go, but the ones that stay with you, even if you’re not there, are true friends.

I have learned that sometimes, a new start isn’t always that good. Especially if you are missing out on your last year of middle school with your lifelong friends. Despite all of this, I have managed to continue and make new friends. Even though I learned that sometimes change isn’t always good, I have learned to continue and deal with it.