Daniel Cordell    

First Day of School

            I still remember my first day of school and the sleepless night that preceded it.  I was scared half to death about this thing called “kindergarten” that I had never experienced before.  Mom said that it was going to be fun, but I was still unsure about that.

            The night before I was to attend my first day of school, my stomach was in knots.  I did not eat my supper that night, nor could I do anything but think about school.  At nine o’clock, which was my scheduled bedtime, my mother came in my room to tuck me in.  She could tell that I was terrified about the day to come.  She tried to calm my nerves by reading me a bedtime story, but that was no help.  After she kissed me and turned out the lights, my mind started racing about what school might be like.  I tried to make myself think about how fun it would be, but my mind kept going back to how awful it might be.  Finally, after hours of tossing and turning, I managed to fall asleep.

            The next morning, seven o’clock came, and it was time to get up.  I hesitantly got out of bed and went to the shower.  Honestly, I did not even bathe that morning because I was terrified about what was to take place in less than an hour.  After getting dressed, I went to the table to try to eat a bite.  My mom made my favorite breakfast meal, biscuits and gravy, but I still could not even make myself eat it.  After breakfast we got in the car and went off to school.  Now I was more than a nervous wreck; I was a horrified wreck.  I felt like I had fish swimming around in my stomach.  I just wanted to break down and cry, but I somehow held back the tears. Mother tried to console me, but it did absolutely no good.

            When we got to the school and walked to my classroom, I could no longer hold back the tears.  I held on to my mother for dear life as she tried to introduce me to my teacher.  Through all the tears I managed to learn that her name was Mrs. Morrison, and she seemed to be a nice lady.  After talking to her for a few minutes, I became more comfortable, and the tears stopped.  Maybe this school thing is not so bad after all I thought.  I finally calmed down enough to leave my mom’s side and go play with some of the other kids.  As I sat there and played, I began to forget about everything else.  My mom left without my even noticing.  When I finally did notice, it really did not bother me.  I just kept on playing with my new friends.