Aparna's column - The Inevitable Monster

I have asked my teenage daughter, Aparna, to write a weekly column for my blog. She has agreed (after a lot of convincing). Her introduction, 13 year old, DPS kid, born in the USA, Hyderabadi today. Her writing has won a few contests and some articles have appeared in the Times of India Student Edition. Here is the first one, on moving to ninth grade after spending a great year being a "eighthie".
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There’s that time of the year, every year, when it’s time to move on from the old to the new. Time to adjust to new classes, new teachers, new friends. And every year, I feel bitter about it. I leave my old class with a mixture of emotions-sadness about leaving what had become such an important part of my life, along with happy memories of good times. But I wish I didn’t have to go through this change every year. The pain and memories it brings back. I suppose you could call me resistant to change. But change is inevitable. And every year, I hope that the transition will be easier, smoother, but it just seems to get worse.

With each new year, each new friend, the attachment gets stronger. The harder it is to leave my comfort zone and welcome the fresh experiences that I will soon encounter. I can only hope that the next year will be better. The nostalgia is nothing new. It’s gotten old now. There is a sense of excitement, anticipation, of the coming year, but in my case, mostly reminisces of the past year. You cannot possibly expect me to forget the amazing year that has gone by. Time just flies. You can’t even tell.

During the academic year, I usually hate my teachers and class, but toward the end, I begin to look at them differently; I begin to like them, love them and I cannot imagine moving away from them. Some of my close friends are leaving school this year, and it is unbelievable how much I will miss them. I cannot even entertain the thought of doing so myself. I have been in this school for eight years now and I have grown to love it so much, I can’t bear to stay away from school. I love school. I don’t know how I am going to take the pain of leaving school after tenth grade.
But I guess I am going to have to find a way to get used to it. Like Mary Engelbreit said, “If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.”