For most people, the best thing about senior year is that it’s the last year of high school. There’s a sense of comfort that comes from a place you’ve spent three years figuring out. However, to have this sense of comfort it’s given that you have to be in the same school for all four years. This was my biggest issue with moving schools for senior year – the loss of the comfort I had built up in my time at my old school.
Everybody knows the familiar sensation of stepping into a new place for the first time, especially one with entirely new people. We all know the feeling that every young student has when entering their freshman year of high school, with the butterflies in your stomach and the nerves. I had this same feeling when relocating, and even though as a senior it’s much easier to deal with, change is something that everyone, no matter their age, is at least a little scared of.
As I moved across the country from Maine to Marco Island days before the new school year started, change was my biggest fear. I was leaving a community that I felt very much in tune with and the people that I had grown up with for the last 17 years of my life. I was leaving memories and people, good and bad, that had shaped me into the person who I am today, and that was a terrifying thing to do.
Moving to a new environment
In the few weeks leading up to me moving, I found myself desperately trying to cram as much time in with my friends and family in Maine as I could. It felt like I had not spent enough time with the people I was leaving behind, even the people that I saw every day. It still feels like I didn’t spend the time that I needed with my brother, cousins and friends in the last few short weeks of my summer. I believe that’s the biggest thing contributing to the fact that I already miss home, even though I’ve barely settled into my life on Marco.
I am grateful that I am able to have a nearly completely different school year experience than I’ve had in the past.
So far through the start of my time at MIA, I’ve been treated great by the students and staff. With MIA being around half the size of my school in Maine, it seems like there’s a much more personal experience in school then I’m used to.
It can be hard to let go of the idea that you’re an outsider and everyone else is completely comfortable, even when (of course) that’s not the case. The fact that MIA is a smaller school has both helped and hurt with this. While you can tell that there’s a community within the school, a community that seems to accept new members with open arms, it’s also daunting to enter an atmosphere where it seems like everyone knows everyone else.
Starting to re-adjust
One of the things I didn’t foresee being an issue were the everyday things in my life that were being uprooted. I still am yet to find a new gym, and have had frozen corn dogs for dinner for 3 of the last 4 days, simply because I don’t know where to go to eat. Not having access to a car, as I’ve had to share it with my dad, has limited my ability to explore the island. Exploring is something that seems like a must for me as I hope to acclimate to Marco. Looking back, I wish I would have done more research about things that I would enjoy around my condo so I could branch out and learn more of Marco, even without easy access to transportation.
Additionally, I feel like I didn’t prepare nearly enough, both physically and mentally. It still feels like I’m on a vacation, not living in a new place. I wish I had spent more time saying goodbye to people in Maine, because now it feels like I haven’t moved onto a new part of my life, instead I’m just on a detour. It also feels like everyday I remember something that I wish I had brought with me, I packed just the essentials and didn’t really think about all the things that I use every day, namely I didn’t think to pack sunglasses but bright spots in my eyes after the beach and 60 dollars later it seems like a complete oversight.
Advice for anyone relocating
My biggest piece of advice for anyone else who plans on adventuring out to a new school in a new environment is to try your best to live in the moment. There will always be things that you miss or things you wish you did differently. I’ve learned that the most important thing is to enjoy the new experiences you have and try to explore every opportunity that you get. There’s no worse feeling than realizing you squandered an opportunity to have a truly enjoyable experience.
Though I do truly miss my life that I put on hold, I’m just starting to understand the most important thing about my move, the opportunities and new experiences that are ahead of me, and how they can build on the ones I’m leaving behind. I hope to be able to reflect on this experience a year from now and say that I got everything that I could out of this adventure. As each day comes and goes and I grow more comfortable within the community, I become more and more hopeful that my experience will continue to improve as I continue on in the school year. It seems that if the students who did this before me are any indication, I will feel more and more like part of Marco Island life as time passes by.
