Jimmy is a 13 year old boy that takes the bus to and from school in Waterford, MI. Jimmy was very interactive with students and his teachers and created great connections that lead Jimmy to success and also have good friends. Soaking and engaging in teachers lessons and taking nothing on everything, group project with friends and getting out of my comfort zone, ever since he started in kindergarten. Walking into Waterford schools, they were run down and not as nice as other schools around. Seeing  dirty hallways and lockers during passing time eating lunch in a beat up lunchroom with multiple food fights. Although, Jimmy didn't quite fit in right, Jimmy enjoyed the people and friendships he made. He enjoyed school the most when the last bell rang and he was free. Leaving classrooms and through the massive doors to the courtyard, onto the rundown bus with ripped seats and garbage all over the floor to take him home. 

After school, Jimmy had 3 friends that he would hang out with after school. The 4 of them would stay up until the bright moon lit the dark night sky. Smoking baseballs everywhere on warm evenings in his front yard with bases at all four corners throwing plastic baseballs round all evening. Winter months were the time, packing and rolling snow to build a snowman to tying skate scoring goals on his homemade ice rink his dad made every winter. They couldn't wait to skate during snow days and after school because no one ever had an ice rink in their front yard. They would skate until they couldn't feel their toes and finishing the night off sitting around the fireplace while  watching TV.

Jimmy had been  having fun for many years until one evening, his parents told him we needed to talk, and this was serious.

“We have lived here for the past 21 years and we have decided that it's now time to move on and start fresh.” 

When Jimmy received the bad news, he was unsure what the plan moving forward was. 

“Where are me moving to?” Jimmy asked.

“ We are moving a few towns down in 6 months to a better school district and also a brand new house, that's right, we are building a house,” My mom said with excitement.

Jimmy was looking forward to a brand new, spacious bedroom, a new school district and a new house because he really wasn't a fan of everything he had right now. Jimmy wasn't going to miss the house one bit. He thought about his friends and the connections he built with his teachers and other students. 

“What about all my friends?” Jimmy cried at the wood kitchen table in the dining room.

“You will still be able to talk to them but it's going to be tough to hang out with them every day. It's just not possible.” 

After discussing the plan for the future for his sister and Jimmy will be, Jimmy walked in frustration to his room and had mixed emotions about the circumstance that appeared. Nothing wasn't going to be the same moving forward.

The next 6 months really changed Jimmy's life because it would be the last summer with this all his friends he had in Waterford. He walked over to his buddy’s house and gathered everything at there houses and told them the bad news.

“Why are you moving?”

“You can't leave,” Jimmy's friends questioned.

“ I know, I know, I don’t want to leave either, I have no control of this, It is what it is.” 

Creating many more memories at the lake, late night bonfires, baseball and basketball games and walking up to the party store for snacks, next 6 months flew by and it was time to leave. He walked to neighborhood to say his last goodbyes to his buddies. Walking from house to house, remembering all the memories he had at every spot in the neighborhood. Shooting hoops and just running around, He loved every minute of it.  

The next day, his parents took the day off to move all the boxes and stuff from the old house. Removing the house, full of boxes from the house took a toll on his parents. Jimmy's sister and him helped their parents through the packing process at both houses. The process was much faster with their  help, but still was up moving boxes until 11pm, It was a long night. The next morning was the start of my freshman year at Clarkston High school. Walking into the Junior High School, it was a fresh start, slowly walking into the massive, clean hallway, crowded with students, Jimmy had a huge smile on his face.

The new school was very different atmosphere and the first year, Jimmy really didn't fit in. Jimmy started struggling in school and only made a few friends, but nothing compared to his old school. Jimmy started missing everything about the dirty hallways at Waterford Schools and his friends and teachers. 

As the next few years went on, Jimmy joined a few clubs and also made the Golf and Hockey team. Clarkston High School provided many groups to help Jimmy build those connections and also have a good time. When Jimmy made the hockey team last year, the school had their own custom locker room with custom stalls for each player as well as a supportive coaching staff and a state championship opportunity. The golf team was a blast during the spring months. The head coach of the team and gave us the opportunities to play great courses in Michigan and hooked him into a great sport.

Jimmy started to really enjoy the time he had a Clarkston and still missed his closest friends. One day after school at the dining room table, Jimmy told his parents that, 

“Maybe you were right about the fact that moving forward to a beautiful, new house and a better school district with great academics and sports teams was the right thing for my future and me even though at first he didn't like it”

 Jimmy now can connect with his old friends from Waterford and still enjoy my time in Clarkston. Moving on in life can be a good thing, even if it means making new friends, interacting with clubs and stepping out of your comfort zone at a new school. Even though he really missed his friends, the memories and good times with always stay with him.