When I was little we never had the chance to settle in a specific place. Traveling from country to country never finding that one place we could call home. Then, when I was around the age of 5, we moved to Spain. Those had been the best few years of my life.  I had made good friends and had found my real passion, soccer. But good things don’t last forever. My dad received a golden opportunity to become director of sustainability in CEMEX. We had to move to Monterrey. It wasn’t easy to say goodbye, but after four years in Madrid we had to pack our bags and fly to Mexico. My mom told us that we would stay in Monterrey forever. That’s why I was so nervous. I had to make friends, if not I would be lonely forever.

I stepped out of our tiny garage carrying my backpack and walked towards our car. The sun was still down and the sky was pitch black. The car was a grey Jaguar from the year 2004. We were borrowing my grandma’s car since we had only been in Monterrey for a few days. I was in the car in my way to my first day in ASFM.  Looking out the window. Paying attention to every street sign in the way. I had never seen these strange tiny roads and I was still learning were everything was. I looked at the clock and saw the time; 8:05. Great, I was late on my first day.

“Mom?” I asked
“Yes?” she replied. Her brown eyes focused on my answer.
“Can you go a bit faster? I’m already late,” she had noticed the desperation in my voice as I asked.
“It’s only your first day I’m sure they’ll forgive you” My mom always calmed me down. She always knew what to say that would make me feel better.

She was right. But all I cared about was making friends. I arrived to the school at 8:10. I remember the first time I saw it. I thought it was amazing compared to the small school I went to in Spain. When I walked in I felt tiny compared to the colossal roof and the big guards sitting in their big chairs Since it was my first day when I went to the office for a pass, they forgave me and told me to go to my classroom, 3D. I walked up the large stairway leading to the second floor. The only bad thing about being new is that you don’t know where anything is. You probably already know what happened. I walked into a wrong hallway TWICE, until I finally found my classroom. I was standing right in front of the door. I just stared at it for a few seconds and then finally opened it.

As I opened the door the room silenced to the point you could hear a penny drop. It was a square room with walls of color purple and welcoming posters on them. I searched all of the tables searching for my name. I found it, in the far left table next to the whiteboard, beside some Cristobal. I walked up to my place and when I put my hand on the chair….

“Hey you!” My teacher Ms. Luisa called me with her furry brown hair and green eyes and I knew I wasn’t going to sit just yet, “What’s your name?”
“Vicente,” I said it so quiet almost no one heard me “My name is Vicente” I repeated myself.
“Where are you from,” the whole class had there eyes on me.
“Madrid, Spain”
“Oooooh,” I was happy, I had finally made a small impression.
“Well sit down Vicente we are about to start an activity.”

I finally sat down in my seat, scared. A few seconds ago I had stood in front of the whole classroom. We had a little activity about what we did in summer. We had to write on a paper what we had done in summer and show it to other people. I got to know most of the classroom and how they were. They were all nice, but there was this one kid, Cristobal who was being really friendly to me. I noticed on the way he looked at me that he was truly interested in what I was saying. He had brown hair that reminded me of the outside of bread and a face full of freckles. I shared to him how I went to Mallorca and how I visited my cousins in San Diego. He told me about his summer and when he went to SPI. Then in the end of the activity and about to go to recess Ms. Luisa asked if we had made any new friends. Cristobal raised his hand and when he was picked he said “I made a new friend, Vicente”. The bell rang and I went to recess as happy as can be. Because I had made a friend. Because now I have someone that I could be confident with.

I went to recess a lot more confident, feeling better. I could now actually talk to someone who knew me. The hallways didn’t seem so big now, and the huge new school I was getting familiar to. There were two soccer fields and I already knew this was going to be great. I played soccer with some of my new friends. A lot of kids went there to play and I started introducing myself to kids from other classes. I wasn’t the weird new kid anymore.
What happened after I don’t really remember. But I do remember hugging my mom in the car and kissing her in the cheeks. “I had the best school day ever!” I bursted.

My brother Pablo told me he had also had a great day and he had also made a ton of friends. My mom was very happy for us. I woke up that morning actually wanting to go to school. I know, crazy. But I had friends and I was so excited to go and talk to everyone.

When you see a new kid, you probably see they are pretty lonely when they get here in the first day
But if you speak to them and offer your friendship, it might not seem like a big deal but believe me, it will mean the world to them. I am so thankful for Cristobal talking to me and helping me fit in. So do it. It might not seem like it but it will change their lives and they will feel very happy. You might be surprised he may become your very best friend.