A New School, A New Phase

What?! Noooooooo!!!

It's that time of year again when the freshman starts school. Year after year, either meeting new people in a new class and a new teacher, or just being new altogether, is a pretty intimidating process to go through. Unless, of course, you're totally up for it and just glad to talk to people.

For me, and probably some other people... that's a different story.

It’s still difficult for me to talk to people. Heh, but I'm getting better, maybe even better than how I did in high school.


In high school, I've had trouble meeting new people. I'm quiet, reserved, doing my own work and not socializing. I like meeting new people; it's just that I don’t want to introduce myself to others. I am, sadly, the one to wait. It might have worked in prior years, but that doesn't mean that is going to work forever. I made a note to myself that this year I was going to try harder to be more social and talk during the first encounter. A new school, a new phase, a new Jackie.

What helped greatly with my first week were my English and Personal Development classes– also known as the Bayan (means "community" in Filipino) Learning Community. These classes are actually forcing all of us Bayan Scholars to communicate with one another. During the first few days of school we moved around a lot to get to know a few people at first. I actually like this idea because it helped me so much with meeting a few people. I only wish I was given this experience earlier on in high school; it wouldn't have been such a problem if that was the case.

In the past, I was told by my friends that they wouldn't approach me because of my "mad/serious face" I carried, which is my natural expression...? How am I supposed to know how I look when I walk? I'm pretty sure nobody does unless they have a mirror in front of them.

I wanted to change, and I think this learning community helped me. Already in my first few weeks of school I talked to many people, even the first week alone I made a few friends! To those out there who're probably thinking, that's nothing, I've met way more people than that!, well that's just you. It's hard for some of us to make two on the first three days of school, let alone one. In fact, it took me two weeks of school to actually have a single friend in the past; I was that quiet back then.

As of now, I'm loving college-- I'm actually liking school for once! Crazy, isn't it? But it's because I'm not alone anymore. I've made friends already within the Bayan Community, and that’s more than enough for me. I am so glad the professors gave us various opportunities to talk with our classmates and get to know them.
It shouldn't just be this learning community, though. Everyone needs to try and actually talk to other classmate. It is a challenge, it will always be for many people. You think you're out of place and you feel that nobody will like you. That's never true, because if we just try to talk with someone and be open, I guarantee that school will be at least a little bit better, and even fun. All we got to do is make an effort and try.