5AB Memoir

Butter Chicken
Ahmad Aljaber - November, 2021

'' Eww '' I yelled, when I saw the chicken butter I felt disgusted and
I did not want to eat it. My mom kept reminding me that if I did not eat
this I would have to stay hungry all day, so I though again one more time
and said to my mom, '' Mama I will try it.'' I took a deep breath, and… To
be continued.

In the beginning, my Mom and I were planning to order lunch. She
yelled from down stairs, '' What do you want Ahmad?''
I replied, '' anything, I don't mind. '' when I was playing video games I got
interrupted by my nanny, '' Ahmad did the food arrive '' I told her that I
did not know. A few minutes later I asked my mom, '' Mama when will
the food arrived '' she replied, '' I don't know.'' Since my mom said I don't
know, I just went back to playing video games. Later on, I heard the
doorbell, '' ding dong.'' My nanny came to tell me the food was down, so
I went down and saw the food.

When I went down my Mom told me to eat, '' Come on Ahmad let's
eat'' I replied, '' But Mama I don't want to
eat this.'' Then my mom told me, '' Ahmad
you have to accept this, other people are
begging for this, but they can't get it '' and I
replied, '' I could eat this, but I just don't like
how it looks. '' I went back up to play and I
told my mom I'll eat it later. A few minutes
later, my Mom came to me and told me to
eat. I went down and I smelled the chicken

butter. I also smelled fish that my dad ate before. My Mom told me to try
it and I said, '' ok. '' I went, took a deep breath, and...

Just after, I was nervous, but I decided to try it. All I could hear was
my mom chanting my name. Everyone else was chanting. So I ate it and
it tasted delicious. Everyone was happy for me, I was so happy for
myself. Also I finally learned that I had to accept things the way they are.
My mom and I finished eating. All of us were happy and went back to
what we were doing. I was so happy.

Ever since then, I realized I had to accept what I got even though I
did not like it. If it was food, or games. I started accepting things more

and looking back I think I changed. Now I realized that I had to accept
anything before it goes.

Running Minecraft
Aidan R. - November 2021

I was at my house when I nearly got scammed off the internet.

My minecraft was running very slow and laggy, so I went on youtube and tried to
look for something to download to fix my minecraft. After that, it was no help because
it was not working so I just started searching on google for something.

Then I found a cheap looking site. It was called performancebooster6593.com. This
was a very weird way of calling your site, making some people like me think that it
was banned before with a different domain. I thought it was fine, but I thought, "If this
is a virus, my computer will break within days. So I installed the antivirus software.
The anti-virus software was called Avast. The anti-virus software said it would take
about 4 hours and 47 minutes. This was a very long amount of time to me. So I used
the chain-looking wire on my curtain and opened the window. I spied for about 2
minutes until I found a few friends playing one of my favorite games, Survival.

After I was done playing outside with my friend, I looked at my laptop and it was fully
charged, so I checked and everything was
downloaded. So I started to set up my anti-
virus software. After that I watched
youtube and it said "This minecraft
program will give you a virus after 6 hours
of download." And it was talking about the
very same one I downloaded. So I checked
the clock and I had 5 minutes left. Then I
tried to delete it on my computer but it
wouldn't. I now had 2 minutes left to do
this, but then I remembered that I still had
my anti-virus software! I now had thirty
seconds so I went on it and pressed on
clean trash. Then it was removed from my
computer, but I still think how scary it is
that if I had not seconds later deleted it, my computer would have been hacked.

Looking back, nearly having my computer break was very scary with a few minutes I
had to spare.
After this incident, I have always been more careful than ever, especially about
downloading things from sketchy sites.

When I Started Talking at School
Aiko Tunon - November, 2021

It was the first day of school in ASD and my backpack hung
heavily on my shoulders as I walked in the hall. My toes were curling in
and out inside my blue and purple colored shoes. I was biting my lip,
hoping this year would be different. I was nervous if anyone was going to
make fun of me for my fear of talking at school. At my last school,
GEMS, people kept asking me questions that would drive me crazy,
since I couldn’t answer them. I was so worried that the same would
happen at ASD.

Looking around, I saw that ASD was much bigger than my other
schools. I somehow couldn't believe I was already in 3rd grade. I was so
excited but at the same time, my nerves were taking over. As soon as I
reached my classroom I tried to act as casual as possible and dropped
my bag in my cubby. As I headed outside for morning recess, Ms.
Daniele, my teacher, introduced me to Mona and Issabella, two of my
classmates that were going to help me on my first day. I caught myself
fidgeting with my fingers with a nervous but exciting feeling taking over
me. I was about to start swinging on the monkey-bars when I heard a
faint but squeaky whistle. Biting my lip and tapping my shoes on the
floor, I walked into the classroom hoping that I would overcome my fear
of talking in front of people.

I walked into the classroom and my legs carried me to the table
with wobbly chairs. I fidgeted with my hair and my fingers as I slouched
down and stared at my shoes that were silently tapping on the floor. I
could hear everyone chatting with their friends and laughing together. As
I was looking down at my shoes, I heard footsteps coming closer and I
lifted my head up as quick as a lightning bolt. A girl with hazel eyes and
light brown hair was standing in front of me. She gave me a smile as I bit
the inside of my mouth. With all my nervousness, my ears could only just
catch her asking me if I wanted to be friends with her. I was so excited
that all I could sputter out was “Sure, of course.” I couldn’t believe I
made a friend on the first day of school already. But what I couldn’t
believe even more was that I actually talked to someone in school!
Spinning around to face my table, a small grin spread across my face
and excitement spread all over me. I couldn’t wait to go home and tell
my parents all about my day and especially how I talked at school and

made a new friend.

It was finally recess and with
the first half of the day so great, I
couldn’t wait until the rest of the day.
At recess we played on the spinner
while we talked and laughed. After
we played so much at recess, I knew
that we would be great friends. I later
found out that the friend who asked if
I wanted to be friends with her was
named “Chantal.” At the end of the day, in the corner of my eye, I could
see my new friend smiling at me. I couldn’t believe it was the end of the
day when that time had come. The day had passed so quickly when I
had so much fun. As soon as I saw my mom, my mouth exploded with
good news. “Aiko is shy outside but is a real Chatterbox at home,” my
parents would tell people before. But now, I wouldn’t be a shy girl
anymore. The next day, I made friends with another girl called “Alina”
and I somehow knew Alina, Chantal and I would all be best friends.

Looking back, I can’t believe how much of an accomplishment I
made in that one day. Usually people would have no trouble talking at
school, but if you look at my experience at school before that day, you
would see how big of a task I had achieved in those few hours. Even
though I was scared and nervous in the morning, by the end of that day,
I was gleaming with pride. I learned that sometimes in life, even if you’re
scared or nervous to do something, there will be one day where you will
be confident enough to change that way you thought about it.

When Covid - 19 Started

"Corona has been affecting the world population, please wear
masks and stay home." After I told everyone one I knew that the
government said this, they all freaked out and did what they requested.
After a few months my relatives have been passing away because of
Corona, and we've been sad for weeks.

One time, my family and I heard all of this news and everyone was
in lockdown. All of my family were shocked about how long we would
have needed to stay in lockdown
for.

We were in lockdown, and we had online school from our
computers and also other devices. When we would have P.E in online
school, one of the instructions would say go out for a run, or exercise
on a machine. When I would go on my treadmill I would hear thudding
sounds, shuffling, clinking, machines wirring, loud footsteps from me,
and beeping.

After I would finish doing online P.E or exercise, I would play with
my friends outside. But my mom would only let me sometimes,
depending on the cases of Covid - 19, I would always also have to bring
hand -sanitizer, and extra masks in case mine broke or someone else
needed one. When I would go out to play outside, my parents would say
be careful and not touch anything that's been touched by other people,
because then I could get Corona.

Finally, I went outside to my friend's house and he let me inside in
a welcoming way. I forgot my mask and said I'll come back when I get a
mask. When I rushed to my house looking for a mask, I asked everyone
in my house and said there are no masks, then I decided to give up and
go to my friend's house again to ask him for a mask. Then I went inside
with him and I asked for a mask, first he sanitized his hands, and he
poured sanitizer on my hand. After a while I saw a mask in his room, and
when he wasn't looking I made a run for it, then he noticed I was gone,
and the mask was gone. I was then running for dear life and he chased
me. I went inside of the Clubhouse and hid. I then wore the mask and
ran to my other friends, then my friend that I took the mask from, snuck
behind me and took the mask and tore it apart. Then I said, "You should
give others something they need or you will get people doing the same
thing to you and taking stuff from you." Then I thought about what I did,
and I realized that both of us made mistakes, and we learned our

lessons that we have to be generous to people every time.

Moving Houses
Alina Mahapatra - November, 2021

"Alina," my dad said. "Yes papa?" I answered, "we're moving
houses in December." my dad said. "Wait what?" In my head I was
confused. I had so many questions like what about my friends, where
to? What's the reason?? I was so excited, but also so sad because I had
so many friends here.

A few days later, when I woke up there were boxes everywhere
and people inside the house moving the boxes. I asked my dad, "Why
are there so many boxes?" My dad replied and said, "Because we're
moving, remember?" "Oh ya, right." I said. My face lit up, and I jumped.
Then something hit me and my face showed a frown. I was gonna miss
my house because I had so many memories here. I lived here almost my
whole entire life.

My mom, my brother, and I went to the new house to move stuff in.
There were stairs white walls and a yellowish brown floor. While we

were putting stuff in the house there
was someone at the door. I opened
the door and there was a girl. She
said "Hello" and I said "Hi" "are you
new.?" She said "yes i'm new." I
replied. The girl had brown hair, and
had brown eyes that looked like it
was black. She said her name was
Lara, and I told her my name. Then
we started talking. We talked about
how old we are, how it was almost
Christmas, and more. After a while Lara and I went to my backyard.
There was a big tree there with big leaves. Also the floor of the backyard
was made with bricks. The bricks were gray and red. In my head I
thought, "Wow, I've never seen a backyard with a brick floor." I said in
my head. Afterwards, we talked more.

When we finally moved in. The house looked different. The house
was really big. For the first week I didn't feel like it was home. It just felt
weird. After some days I started to go outside and make friends. But, I
didn't make any. Some days, my only friend Lara would have a
barbecue. I knew it was her house because I could sometimes smell
smoke from her backyard. The smell of the chicken reminded me of

when I used to do barbecues in my old house. The smell of my brother
and I roasting marshmallows, yum. The taste of the marshmallow
smelting in my mouth. After some days, I started to make some friends. I
also started to feel comfortable in my new house.

Looking back, I thought I wouldn't make any friends. But, I made
lots of friends. I missed my old house but now I am even comfortable in
my new house. I will accept that sometimes change is good, and
sometimes things won't stay.

Quarantining
Nov - 2021

" Mama, I'm so bored there's nothing to do."I was sitting on the
couch extremely bored. How about you spend time with me? " Ehhh
that's boring, we're only going to talk, not do anything else." So it's fine
you have to spend time with your family. " But that's boring. I'll just watch
tv." Ok. I flopped on the couch and turned on the tv. I was watching tv for
a while when my mom said Anaya come downstairs and we are going to
eat." Ughhh why do I have to eat downstairs? It's so boring I wanna
watch tv also eat like I always do." I get up and walk downstairs
annoyed. "Ok im here." Good, we are going to eat as a family. " But why
do I have to eat her. I wanna eat upstairs while watching tv instead of
sitting here and talking?" No you are not allowed to eat upstairs just go
up and call your brother. " Ok fine."

I knock on the door. "Aarish come down, we're going to eat." I could hear
my brother's voice talking to someone. Ok I'm coming. "Ok." I could hear
my feet stomping while I walked downstairs annoyed. When I came
downstairs my mom and dad were waiting for me, my mom said.
Where's Aarish? " He's upstairs, and he said was coming." Ok. " Then
my mom got a phone call, and she stepped out of the kitchen so she
could answer it.I could hear my mom talking to someone I think was her
friend.

After a bit my mom came back. Then my brother came and sat down. I
sniffed the air and I could smell the yummy food. I sniffed the air one
more time but all I could smell was my brother's stinky breath. I could
see the empty plates and the food cooking in the pan. Finally the food
was done and we could eat. I tasted the food and it was amazing. After a
bit I was done eating and I was going to go upstairs but my mom said
not to go she said I needed to stay here I was so annoyed. My dad was
eating so slow and he kept taking a bit more food. I thought why can't
my dad eat a bit faster?'' My brother kept telling me I couldn't go
upstairs. It triggered me. When everyone was done eating I was finally
allowed to go upstairs. When I was upstairs I turned on the tv. After a bit
I was kind of tired so I decided to lay down. I turned around to face away
from the tv. While I was laying down I could hear the tv playing. Later I
turned around to face the tv cause I couldn't go to sleep. I was too
awake. Then I checked the time. It was 4:30. The time when my friends
go outside to play. I really wanted to go outside but I know I couldn't. I
could hear my friends screaming and laughing, I really wanted to join

them. And I really wanted to go outside too. But I was in quarantine and I
didn't know when It would end. So I went to ask my mom when the
quarantine was over. I could hear my feet stepping on the ground.

I went to my mom to go ask her how long I had to stay inside. When I
found my mom she was on a
phone call. I tapped her shoulder
and she told me to wait. When
she got off the phone she looked
kind of surprised. I asked her
what happened, and she said
Adel mamu was sick. I was so
surprised. My mouth dropped ."
ADEL MAMU IS SICK." She said
he wasn't that sick, and he didn't
have covid. I was so relieved.
But my mom said that Adel

mamu still had to be carefull and he wasn't allowed to go outside. I was
so scared. After a day or two I found out that Adel mamu was getting
better. And soon he would be fine. I was so happy I was jumping up and
down. I was so excited. It had been a few days, and I wanted to know if
Adel mamu was ok. After what felt like a million years, I found out that
Adel mamu was ok. He was all better and he wasn't sick. I was so
happy, I was smiling so hard that my mouth was touching my ears. I was
so happy that Adel mamu was ok. I flopped on the couch extremely
excited. Soon after my mom asked me if I wanted to do something
together as a family. I said "ok mama. I love you." my mom said I love
you too

I was so happy that I was getting to spend time with my family. Because
this made me realize that you need to remember to spend time with your
family because they are all

One Monkey of a Summer
Aoife - Nov/2021

As I ran toward my dad telling him to pick me up as he laughed. Before that it
was a humid day somewhere in Jakarta and my whole family was going to a Monkey
sanctuary to see the Monkeys. But we had to be quiet so the Monkeys would not get
mad.

In the beginning, we went to a monkey sanctuary for the summer. We were feeding
the Monkeys and watching them swing on the vines. I was having so much fun, the
Monkeys were laughing and the other
people were talking a lot and giving them
bananas. The funniest part was when a
Monkey pulled on my sister's skirt. She
was so mad but I was too busy laughing
to notice what would soon come.

in the middle, we were leaving, but back
then I got more scared then today. A
Monkey came out of nowhere and I got
scared. It came running after me, as it
got closer I told my dad to pick me up
but when he did he laughed. Then I saw
it climb up my dad. It did nothing he did not even try. It was the only one mad at me,
it came running at me I was too scared to move than it had attacked. I screamed so
loud that I thought the world would crash. A lady who probably worked there came
then took me inside her office, and gave me a big bandage.

Back at school it was very bad I could not stand wearing a bandage for 3 weeks.
Once I took it off I knew things would change between me and Monkeys. I touched
the bandage for a long time thinking that soon I could take it off, my sister started to
touch it too. I started to think that I would never like Monkeys again.

Ever since then, I realized that not all creatures are friendly, I knew that no matter
what I will remember this day. I will remember the consequences of my mistake.
Then, think about what I could have done in that situation?

My First Dog
November, 2021

That night, I never realized how much responsibility I would have
on my hands. It would be the best, but most stressful day of my life.
Mishti wasn't your average dog. It was hard, but I managed. Barely.

In the beginning, it was February 11th, 2020. We were going to get
a dog tomorrow. I already made plans on how I will walk and make the
dog feel included. The next day, I just got done with my virtual school
and my dad came back from work at 6:45pm. I heard the doorbell
ring."Mom" I called to her, "I think the person for the dog is here". I
opened the door and there was a family there. The son was holding a
dog of what looked like a mix of a labrador and a golden retriever. The
mom who was the forester had a bagel (which is a breed of dog) in her
hands. I greeted them with a smile. "Hello, how are you," my mom said
while walking down the stairs. My dad also greeted them. The son, and
the mom put the dogs in the backyard. I could hear them barking and the
grass blowing with their footsteps. While the forester and my mom
talked I just watched the dogs run around.

The foster told us we had to choose between both of them. I
looked at the 2 dogs and I couldn't decide. In my mind I wanted to take
both but I knew I couldn't, "I really want to choose both, '' I said with a
little sadness. I saw the son playing, and doing tricks with both of the
dogs. All of us voted (except my dad), that we should get the labrador
and golden retriever mix. The foster's family left and took the bagel
home. I saw them leave and wished them goodbye. I went over to try
petting the dog, but my mom stopped me and told me that I shouldn't
touch her yet. My mom is a prodigy when it comes to dogs. She can
read how a dog feels like a book. However, a few minutes later I sat on
the soft couch and I petted the dog. Her fur was so soft I felt like I was
touching a cloud, while I was petting her we were thinking of names. We
thought of the name "Mishti" because it meant "sweet" in hindi. Mishti
licked me and her tongue was so long it was like venom. The saliva was
all over my hands, so I went to the bathroom to wash it off. January 12th,
2021. It was Mishti's birthday and I had so much responsibility by then, I
had to walk her, close the door every time I opened it, pick up her poop
and much more. I helped my mom make a cake for my dog, we used
dog treats as toppings and Mishti loved it. She ate it like there was no

tomorrow!

Now on October 26th, 2021. I take care of my dog and she is 1.7
years old. I have taught her to fetch a toy,
drop the toy and sit(sometimes). Her face
looks so much different, her body is bigger
and she is even cuter. Now she looks
strong and her golden retriever end of the
looks scale has come out more. Her toys
looked different and were ropey and more
of toys to bite. Before, she looked scared
and sad when she first met us. Now her
tongue is out and she looks very happy with her eyes filled with joy.

Looking back, I played with my dog everyday. And I loved it. I hope
it could last for an eternity. Although she bites me and goes away from
me, I am responsible for my dog and I will always be. I wish Mishti will
always be the best and most amazing dog in the world. I hope. With my
responsibility. She will grow to be a strong and healthy dog for as long
as it lasts.

Wind
Askhania Syifa Zurie - November 11, 2021

Scribble, Scribble, Scribble. It was 8.30 AM, on an October Sunday in 2013. I was
scribbling random drawings because I was bored. My friends were all playing happily
outside. I felt jealous because I was sick and if I experienced the hot air outside, I
would get really itchy. This has been going on for a month already. I heard my mom's
footsteps, Dok, Dok, Dok, Creak... My mom came in with some chicken porridge
made from Jakarta. I had not eaten breakfast yet.

I walked up to my mom and grabbed the
porridge. I sat down on the creaky floor
and said, " thank you " to my amazing
mom. "Get well soon sweetheart" my
mom supported. I started to eat the warm
porridge. The spoon full of warm chicken
porridge made me drool. I drank some
mango juice and put all my dirty dishes
away to the side. I continued scribbling
unknown pictures. Knock! A loud big
knock came from my window. "Hey! Can
you help us bring the ball down?" The
naughty boys were playing tennis and accidently hit the ball to my window. The ball
was stuck on the mini flower bed on my window. I couldn't throw the ball back down
because if I open the window, the hot wind would come in and make me feel itchy! I
went downstairs and asked my mom to take down the ball off of my window. "Go
under the blanket honey" I went under the blanket so the hot wind wouldn't touch my
body.

My mom threw the ball back down to the boys and I was starting to get warm under
the blanket, but the blanket was soft, also furry. I asked my mom if she was finished,
but she had to cool down the room before I got out. I waited so long until my mom
said that I could come out! Phew! It was hot there. I stepped down off my bed and
started scribbling again until 2 pm. "This is getting boring." I was too lazy to walk
downstairs and sit down to eat. I heard my sister came back from having a playdate
with her best friend, Alyssa, and heard that she just dropped her bags in front of the
front door, ran to her bedroom just to play with her dolls. While she was running up
the stairs, I told her to stop and pick up her bag from the front door then put it in her
room.

2 months have passed and I feel alot better. I haven't seen my friends for 4 months
now. I finally asked my mom if I could finally play outside with my friends. I even
begged my mom and convinced her that I was feeling better. She let me go off to my
friends but she believed that my friends would be home by now. I didn't care at all
and I ran outside to look for my friends and play with them. It was dark and I could
barely see the tennis court. The azan for maghrib went off. I knew I had to go back
home and pray, but it has been a long time since I haven't played with my friends. I
was craving to go with my friends but I couldn't seem to find them anywhere.
Tomorrow is school and I can't play with them after school. I felt so lonely and I was
so pissed at my sickness. "IT'S ALL MY SICKNESS' FAULT!" I whispered in anger. I
suddenly collapsed on the road and started crying like a baby. My sister noticed me
and ran up to me to see what was going on. "Khania! What happened" my sister
asked. "I can't play with my friends anymore!" I cried. "Oh… my gosh, you are so
annoying." my sister complained. She dragged me back inside the house and
complained about this incident to my mom. "It's okay, there's always one day you'll
get to play with them" my mom supported. "NO, NO, NO! THIS ISN'T FAIR!" I
shouted. I started to cry louder. My mom carried me to the room, then calmed me
down. She left my room and all I have is an iPad next to me my mom suggested to
play with. I grabbed the iPad and kept it in my hands without even turning it on.
I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling. My ceiling fan was spinning and I was staring
at it. As time passed, I started to grow stronger and stronger than before, I grew
more healthier and healthier.

Ever since then, I now know that there is a time limit when you play with your friends.
I knew that it is okay to not have time to have fun. It is also okay not to have friends, I
now know that we can always have another time.

The First time I got a Macbook
Atharv Kakkar - November 11, 2021

Ever since I was a little child my Dad and I would always talk
about technology e.g. Macbooks, cars, and many other stuff, but my
favourite things to look into is the future of computers like mac's. When I
joined ASD my dream of always using a macbook had finally come true.
My sister has always been jealous that I know more about technology
than she does. When she discovered that in my school we use
macbooks, jealousy had taken over her.

In the beginning of my time in ASD we started off with
chromebooks which had touch screens unlike macbooks. Every time I
touched the chrome book to access a tab, my fingers would stay in the
same position and it felt like I glued it onto the screen.The chrome had a
nice flat surface. It was quite easy to lift. Though don't underestimate its
size because it was quite heavy and us classmates had a couple of
accidents. After coming back from a hard day of school my sister noticed
me with my chrome book, "You have a laptop!" She exclaimed "You
don't deserve a laptop!" She screamed. All of a sudden she came
storming towards me, and with all her might... Bam! She punched me
"Oww!Ouch!" I said rather tired like I just woke from a 3 day nap. All of a
sudden I felt a pit in my stomach, it grew heavier and heavier and all of a
sudden I dropped to the floor. I sat up and gave her a hard stare.

The year had gone by really fast, and I was in fifth grade. Here
came a surprise for me, "Alright everyone please make sure you have
returned the chrome books and come on here and grab your macbooks."
I was so excited. As soon as I grabbed the mac book I felt a shock of
nervousness. I had to understand the responsibility of making sure
nothing happens to our macbooks. Once I got home I waited until it was
dinner and broke the news to my family. They were so happy, " Good for
you Atharv" My mom and dad both said at the same time, but my sister
just looked at me. The mac book has a very smooth and curved surface.
It felt very satisfying.There were so many types of shortcuts. My dad
wanted to know all of them. The macbook was way easier to work with.
It worked fast. Once I signed into the laptop it worked lighting fast!

I was so happy that we're getting to use a mac, and I have to say it
is a dream come true. My sister had accepted the fact that I had a
macbook because she knew where it was going, and she didn't want to
take it to that level.

Looking back I have learned from my experience that because of
my parents I'm in such a great school and I'm getting to use a mac. I'm
really so thank-ful that my parents are sending me to a great school.
From this experience I have learned that only hard work can get you to
such a great position.

Coco and the Evil Cat
By Aya Al Zubi - November, 2021

One day I was at my house, and my friend was over. She wanted
to see my bird Coco, so I took Coco out of the cage. The door was open.
Nobody realized. Coco's cage was right next to the door. The day at
school was dress up as people would in the year 3000. So I dressed like
an alien. I had a hat made out of tinfoil, for the antanais of the alien.

My dad picked up the hat and put it on Coco. Coco’s little small
brain could only take in so much. he screamed in terror as he glided out
of the house, on to the cold, dark streets. He could not fly yet his wings
were cut off, but at least the important part of it. The tips were cut off. His
previous owner, who is my mom's friend, got it cut off at the vet. Thank
God for that or else Coco would not be here now. As Coco glided out of

the house, something was there.
To my horror, I knew what it was.
My worst enemy. Cats. As my
heart bumped against my rib cage,
I stood there frozen. My legs glued
to the floor. I had a fear of cats. My
legs shake as I was thinking of
how to save Coco. If I ran I would
startle him, and maybe he would
run away? I heard Coco's cries as
he squeaked. Coco was only too
little and the cat was only so big. Coco was squeaking for help. The cat
meows and my screams. I screamed in terror as that cat inched closer
to Coco. I closed my eyes so tight it started to hurt. All I could do was
hope that Coco is not being eaten. I peeked but continued to scream and
cry. It was like that feeling when in a dream there's someone or
something chasing you. You fall on the ground and can’t get up. That is
a great demonstration of what I was feeling.

As I screamed “COCO COCO COCO COCO!” Rivers of tears ran
down my face. Just thinking about this is making me cry. That stupid cat!
Almost killed my bird! The dark gloomy sky let out a cold breeze. When I
looked up I saw stars. I was hoping my bird would not die. The dirty road
where Coco's clean feet stood frozen. Again, I screamed “COCO NO
COCO!” Screaming the same thing over and over. As if the cat was
going to disappear. My voice started to hurt from screaming. My tears

ran down my face. I was about to witness murder. I felt so bad I could
not help. I was scared the cat might bite me! As my voice echoed in the
compound, I did not stop crying. My parents, brother, sister and friend
were standing there not knowing what to do. As the trees blew in the
night sky, all I could think about was what would happen next. With that
stupid fear of stary cats I have. I mean at least we are in a compound.

Just before the cat could grab him, my dad came to save the day.
He ran and grabbed Coco. Coco quickly reacted by biting my dad!
Coco’s bits don’t hurt thankfully. We arrived inside, and inside was cat
free. He got scared when my dad held him. The front of my dad's hands
were on Coco's legs. The back of his hands were on Coco’s back. A
great demonstration of how you should not hold a bird. We shut the door
and put Coco in his cage. I put my finger in to reach his soft feathers. I
touched my face and felt the warm tears. My cold hands shiver with fear
and helplessness. My friend ran towards me, hugging my broken heart.
As she talked to me in a whisper voice. “It’s okay Aya, at least Coco is
here with you now.”

I’m thankful that Coco is still here with me. This experience was
like a rollercoaster of events, and with loops and all. I still can’t process
what happened till this very day. All that really matters is Coco is still
here with me, and I am not ready to let him go yet.

Track and field
Batu - November 2021

"Cmon Batu we are going to be late.'' Wait a second why did my
friend say I was going to be late. Oh god I forgot that I have track and
field as an ASA. Meaning After school activity. I wonder what will happen
this year in track and field. Would I be selected for the races? Well only
one way to find out.

In the beginning, me, and
my friends were running to the
school track. When we arrived
there everyone was sitting down.
Then one of the teachers yelled,"
cmon sit down you are late." After
the teacher took attendance. I
looked at the school track which
had cones on its tracks for our
activity. A breeze of wind hit me,
and then the smell of grass hit
me too.

In the middle, 3 weeks later. The coaches were deciding which
students will make the team. We were divided into two groups. Little did I
know as I was watching other kids jump. That one group will make it to
the races, and the other well uhhhh I think you know what that means,
so for now I will call it the "not good group." As soon as I figured it out I
whispered under my breath, "That's it, this is very unfair. I made second
place, and still I am not selected for the races." When track, and field
was over. I rushed to my dad, and told him. Last time when this
happened he was calm,so was I. This time we both were mad, and we
were acting crazy. I even question my existence. It was a sad day at
home. My mom was cooking something that I definitely was not going to
like. How do I know? Well I can smell it. At the end, the next day I was
laying on my bed wondering what I was going to do. Also, there is a very
annoying kid who is bragging about how he made it 6th place, is in the
races, and that I am second place who is not in the races. Then I
realized something even though I did not make it to the races. I still had

fun doing the ASA, and that not only have I changed physically. Also
mentaly. That is all that mattered.

Sometimes even if you don't succeed, you still change. For
instance, here in my case even though I did not get selected. I changed
physically, and mentaly. This proves changing is important sometimes.
In a good way of course.

Ouch! My Stomach Hurts…
By: Brianna Nov. 2021

On October. 24th, 2021, something was buzzing around in my
body. Before, I thought it was just my daily life routine, but sooner or
later it started to ache more in my ribs. It felt like a knife had gone right
through my stomach. It was only a Sunday and the weekend had just
ended a couple hours ago. But I still didn’t know why it was aching. Was
it my posture? Or maybe I just had cramps? But whatever it was, it hurt

badly...

It was 1:05PM, and lunch had just ended a couple minutes ago.
We were doing Rose and Bud. My turn had already passed. Then all of
a sudden, something hit. At first, I just let it slide, but it just ached more

as the time passed. Sooner or later, my stomach was killing me, so I
finally raised my hand, and asked Ms. Farmer if I could go to the nurse.
She questioned what was wrong and I told her my stomach was hurting.
She was sceptical about answering ‘yes,’ but did it anyway. I stood up
and walked out of the classroom, trying not to make a noise. After I was

out, I decided to only run when there was nobody around, and walk
when there were students or teachers. So, I ran. My footsteps pounded

against the ground as I did. But, I also tried to quiet down, as I didn’t
want to disturb any classes with their doors wide open. Although, it
seemed as it didn’t work as whenever I zoomed past their door, I got a
quick glance and I saw them looking at me. After a while of running, I
heard some students around the corner, so I slowed down. Then, after
no one was looking, I ran again. I soon got to the door of the lower
elementary, and walked inside. When I was in, I saw some teachers
ordering kids to line up. Anyways, after that I finally got to the nurse’s

office.

When I proceeded to go inside, there I saw Atharv, sitting in one of
the chairs near the back wall. The nurse had asked me what was wrong,

and I told her that my stomach was hurting. She also asked me for my
full name and grade. While I was speaking, I saw her write all of this
information on a clipboard with some charts on it. Anyways, after that
she let me have a seat in the other chair near the back wall--there were
two chairs--where Atharv was sitting. The nurse told him that he was
free to go, and I whispered to him what we were working on in class.
Then I gave him a quick wave and he did the same before he was off.
The nurse took my temperature and asked how much the pain hurt from
one to ten. In my mind, I was thinking to tell her that the pain was eight,
but I kind of felt like that would sound a bit exaggerated. Although I said

it anyway. After a while, she asked me how the pain was doing--again--,
and I responded with a six. Following when I said that, I felt like I could
see the confusion in her eyes. The nurse wanted to know how this even

happened? What did she mean by that? How my stomach started
hurting all of a sudden or what? She explained to me that she wanted to

know how my pain got to six because earlier I said that the pain was
eight. The nurse told me that if the pain was eight, then I should have

been crying. But, I still responded to her saying that it just lowered
maybe because of the time or how I was sitting. I’m actually really
hoping she bought that, because I didn’t know how the pain lowered
either. Anyways, she told me just to maybe drink water and that I should
probably try sitting up straight in class. Then, before I left the nurse’s
office, the nurse told me to go into the bathroom and gurgl this cup that
had hot water in it. So, I did. After I finished that, I was told to sit back in
the chair until I could be dismissed to my class again. Then, the nurse
remembered something. She said that she was going to get me an ice
pack so that I could hold on to my belly. She also told me that if my
stomach still hurt after a bit, that I had to come to the nurse’s office again
and that they would probably have to send me home. Of course, I
agreed. When she was getting the ice pack, I noticed that one of my

classmates was here: Ghazal. There were two nurses in the room, but
the other one was taking care of another child. She had to stop though,

to ask Ghazal what was wrong. Ghazal said that her stomach was
hurting. Oh no, I thought. Please don’t tell me there is a stomach bug at

school...The other nurse told Ghazal that if her stomach was hurting
then one she could try and go use the bathroom or two, try gurgling

some hot water from the sink in the bathroom. She agreed and
disappeared immediately after. Then, the nurse finally gave me an ice

pack and told me that I was free to go back to my classroom.

Brother Breaking His Wrist.
Emma Hanauer 5A - November, 2021

I have never appreciated my older brother Moritz. I always thought
he was annoying, dumm, and sometimes I even thought he was an idiot.
From the day where he broke his wrist, he changed my mind. Now I
notice how important he is to me after all.

The one night my brother called over the house telephone, and
tried to say that he had broken his wrist. I was so shocked that I ran up

the stairs, kind of fell, but didn’t care. I
called my mom, and I told her what had
happened. Then I ran back down the
stairs, and called my dad. I told dad that I
had told had happened. He was proud of
me, but he had other things to do. I then
asked dad if I could talk with my brother.
When I talked with my brother I could not
understand anything because he was screaming, and he was crying at
the same time.

When my brother came home, I really just wanted to go with him to
the hospital. He also wanted me to come with him, but my dad said it
was too late for me. He said that I had to go to bed. I was so mad at my
dad because he made me go to bed at the worst time. I was just
depressed. I felt so sorry for my brother that I just refused to go to bed.
My dad eventually pulled me up the stairs. For the first time I hugged my
brother and he hugged me back. I felt so sorry for him. He made me cry.
My mom and my brother went to the hospital and me and my dad stayed
home. My dad hugged me and I hugged him back. I tried not to cry, but I
just could not stop it.

When my brother left my dad made pasta. It was so yummy that I
kind of forgot about my brother, but when I noticed that he wasn’t at the
dinner table I remembered. After we finished the pasta we ate Lederach
chocolate. We put the chocolate in yogurt and I fell in love with the taste
of it.

I tried to not think about the change me and my brother have gone
through, but we just had to celebrate it. From this experience I learned
that trying to avoid bad things isn’t the best thing to do. We were kind of
happy because we had just gotten a good relationship. I guess it was ok.
It really wasn’t that bad after all. I wanted to help my brother when I saw
him the next day. He just acted like I was not there. Tears started to run
down the side of my face. I just had to accept that my brother did not
want to have a relationship with me. I was so sad that I ran up in my
room, but my brother followed me for some reason. I screamed at him
and told him that I did not want to talk with him just that minute.

The Tooth
Enzo Anziani - November 2021

"Tick tock tick tock." I was staring at my watch. My watch said
2:14. It made a tock sound and turned to 2:15. My dad told me to come.
I dreaded what was coming. I knew and I didn't like it.

I went downstairs as slow as I could. I thought that if we didn't get
to the dentist on time, we wouldn't be able to go. Of course, I was wrong.
My dad told me to hurry up. I heard the keys jingle and the door opening.
I hurried to the elevator and we walked to the parking lot where the car's
motor was buzzing. As we drove, I thought about a million questions
popping up in my mind. Would they simply pull? Would they inject
anesthesia? Would they add some paste? Will they give me the tooth
back? Why can't I pull it myself? We arrived at the dentist and went
through the glass doors. I heard a whoosh of the doors sliding open. I
walked in and sat in one of the chairs.

I waited in a comfy chair for the lady to call us. The lady called my
name and I walked into the office, with my stomach in a knot. I saw
some tools and I thought, will they use them on me? I felt air rushing
around me as I walked in. I quickly found out that the lady that had
called us in wasn't actually the dentist. The dentist told me to go and sit
in the chair. It was a chair that reclined all the way and become a bed.
The dentist talked to my dad for a while. Then, she told me to lay on the
chair. She turned on a light that was facing towards my mouth. I blinked
in the sudden light. She said to open my mouth. She grabbed a tool and
yanked my tooth. Tears flooded my eyes. She saw my tears and
immediately stopped. She asked me if it hurt and I nodded. I tasted sour
blood on my tongue. She grabbed a cotton swab and she put an orange
looking paste on the swab. I thought about asking her if she was going
to use it to push off my tooth, but, before I could ask, she started
applying the paste as she told me that I shouldn't eat it. She told me it
was anesthesia. When she finished applying it, she sat down and told
me to wait. Until then, I hadn't realized that I couldn't feel my mouth. I
tried to speak ,but the words came out weird. The dentist asked me if the
anesthesia had done its work and I said yes. She grabbed the tool,
grabbed my tooth and yanked with all her might. It didn't hurt as much as
before, but it still hurt a lot. I saw the tooth gleaming with blood on the

bed.

The dentist gave me my tooth. It smelled really bloody. She said I
had been really good so she gave me a case to keep my tooth. She told
us that I could only eat cold things like ice cream for the next 4 hours.
We thanked the dentist as we walked out. As I walked, I tasted the bitter
taste of anesthesia and smelled it on my breath. I asked my dad if we

could get ice cream to take it off my
breath. He said he would think about it
and tell me in the car. I saw the chairs
and a lot of patients waiting nervously
with their parents. I walked out to the car
and opened the door. As I was walking, I
smelled the dust on the wind. I walked in
and buckled my seatbelt. My dad told
me we were going to the mall to get ice
cream. I said okay and started looking
out the window.

As I looked out the window, I thought about the dentist. I wondered
what would have happened if she hadn't taken out my tooth. Maybe the
other tooth would have not been able to grow. Maybe the new one would
grow and I would have a double row of teeth, like a shark. Either way, I
knew I should be grateful for what she did to me. I thought that from now
on, I would be more grateful about the things I have.

Breaking My Arm.

Marek Normand 5A - November, 2021

One sunny day, I was very bored. I needed to find something to do, so I
decided to head upstairs and decide what to do then. We decided to
play on our pull-up bar with my friends, Hubert and my sister, Phoebe.
When I did that, with them, they were pushing me back and forth on the
pull-up bar, something very bad and unexpected happened. I really
needed to persevere through this tough, hard time.

In the beginning, I went upstairs with my friends. We were trying to
decide what to do because we had so much free time. I came up with
this really bad idea that would come back to haunt me. I told them what
it was, then, they started pushing me back and forth on the pull-up bar. It
started to get pretty fun! Then, disaster struck. I had been asking for
about 3 seconds for them to stop pushing me. They didn't because I was
already way too high. The pull-up bar was 7 feet tall at the time and
would be really bad if I fell off. Well yeah, you guessed it, of course I fell
off. There was no way of stopping after I got so high up. It was a really
bad fall. I tried to break my fall, but it didn't turn out well.

In the middle, I fell off the pull-up bar. I was shocked at first, then I
started to cry. My mom knew that same cry from when I had
broken my left arm 2 years before. She was in the restroom, so
she couldn't come straight away. My friends asked, "Are you
okay?" But, I couldn't even speak because I was crying so hard.
Shortly after, I told my mom in between cries, "I think I hurt my arm
mom!" She was kind of nervous because when your child was
crying like how I was crying, you know something is wrong. We
went downstairs and turned on a youtube channel for me, but it did
nothing to help. It was the channel for a game called, "Brawl
Stars." I was still crying so my mom gave me an ice pack and took
me to the Sidra Hospital.

In the end, once we got to the hospital, I had almost stopped crying. As
we headed up to the desk, there was a lady with a really worried face. I
mean, if I saw a kid crying like I was, I think I would be worried, too. She
gave us an entry ticket and told us to sit down. We sat down for about 10
minutes and then we were called. The doctor said, "We will need to x-ray
the arm." So, she x-rayed it. She got the results back and it said I had
fractured it past my growth plate, which means it could break very easily.
The doctor put a cast on my arm and let me choose my own sling. I
chose black since it was easy to clean. Then, we went home and
everybody signed my cast from left to right.

Looking back, I noticed that I made a very bad idea. I could have thought
of something better to do. In the end, I am happy that I didn't need
surgery. I should be more careful next time to be safe.

Maldives

Francisco - November, 2021

“Mom! Are we actually going to the Maldives? When are we going?
Why are we going.” I was so lost of words I couldn’t talk, because I
barely knew about it.

My mom screamed,”Yes! Do you think I’m lying to you?” I quickly
responded, “Well obviously yes because you always play tricks on
me!”Then we all started laughing and packed our bags to go to the
airport in 3 days.When we packed our bags it was a disaster because
my sister couldn’t choose what to bring and she would always scream at
me, “I’m not bringing that because I don’t like it!.After those 3 days we
left at 3:00am to go to the airport and got on the plane at 10.

We flew business class because it was a pretty far trip and my
family wanted to be comfy. When we got on the plane I was so
hungry,and I ordered a chicken biryani. When I saw it I said to my mom,
“ Valentina would probably rather eat this than cake.” Valentina is my
sister. I said that she would rather eat that than cake because it looked
so good. But she loves cake so I’m not sure. But I think she would rather
eat the chicken.After the long flight we finally got there and had to take
another plane to get to the hotel.After a 40 minute flight that felt like 4
hours I finally got there.As soon as we got there they gave us some
complimentary coconut water out of an actual coconut! I tried and hated
it ,but my family loved it. I guess I’m just the opposite of my family. Then
this guy named Adam drove us to our villa. He was the coolest

butler/helper ever. When I
explored the villa it was so
big and scary because it
was a water villa. It was so
scary because there was a
bit of the floor that was
glass and I could see big
Lemon and Nurse Sharks
under me!One good thing
was that to get around the
island/hotel there were
bikes, so me and my family
went biking and saw one of the best football/soccer players in the world.
His name is Kaká he played for many good teams one of the most
popular ones out of the ones he played for was Real Madrid.

The sad part was that.We had to leave after being there for only 1
week, but the good thing was that we wouldn’t have to get more
sunburnt.My skin was so hot I could cook steak on me.because the Maldives
is on the Equator!So it means it would be so hot.My sister even said,
“I’m more burnt then a marshmallow.” Right after she said that my
parents brought us to take off from our hotel to go to the actual airport. In
my opinion the best thing on the trip was meeting Kaka.

Sometimes life plays tricks on you in a good way. To celebrate
meeting Kaká, and after getting his number and his wife's number, we
went to another island and ate in a restaurant under the water. As a
surprise, Kaká and his wife were there. Then my dad told me he planned
to meet there, and I got his autograph and got super happy.

The 4 Stages of Grief
By Ghazal Arakji November. 2021

Denial, anger, depression, and acceptance. These are some of the
things I went through after the morning of December 24. One of my
aunts died that morning, a piece of my heart died that morning. I
thought that after my aunt's death everything would change, but all that
changed was I had fewer aunts and I hoped she would come back, even
when I knew she was gone.

The cold crisp morning of winter in December described my aunt's
death perfectly. Cold, dark, and full of rainy tears. It all began in
Lebanon. My mom, sisters and I were there in my grandma's house. My
aunt had cancer, She was sick. the morning before she died it seemed
like she was giving me a sign like she knew, I felt bad she could not
move or talk. It was hard to see her like that. My sister and I were awake
at 8:00am.

We were playing on the phone and… I heard a yell "AAAAAAAA"
Denial started kicking in as a river of tears

flowed down my face. Never in my life

have I experienced so much sadness, it
was like time stopped and I couldn't believe

what I was seeing. My sister's, mom, and
my grandma were all crying. I - WAS -

DEVASTATED. Anger rushed through my
veins as I thought "Why me" "why us"
"why her"

I couldn't even believe what was happening, I felt like I was in a
dream. Seeing the whole family upset. Depression. The worst step, and
one of the longest steps in the stages of grief, I felt like this feeling was
never going to end.

After some time I came to accept that my aunt is in a better place
now and she no longer feels pain. I couldn't even believe it happened so
fast. But sometimes in life we have to accept the changes. We all have
to as people come and go.



First Time Ice Skating
Hannah Lunderstedt- November 2021

One sunny and cold day, I was in the mall with my sister's friends and my

sort of friends.And we were going to go Ice skating,and I was very cold and scared to
go ice skating because I was only 5 to 6 years old . I went to a mall called (villagio)
with some friends(well my sisters friends), so when I got there I saw my friends,and I
went up to them and I said,”Hey do you want to go Ice Skating now,"and they said"
YES LET'S GO". Now we went to the place where you go Ice Skating.And I even
got to see the rink.And I was so excited to Ice Skate.

But after we got our gear on, and we went on the rink I was so terrified to go
on as soon as I saw someone fall down I
was so terrified about going on the Ice Rink
and felt the cold icee air flowing on me and
immediately I Had to go on because my mom
had already paid for me. So I had to go on
but at least they did give me a starter thing. I
don't know what it's called,but it does look
like a seal. Before I got on I could feel how
i'm feeling the cold metal railings. As soon as
I put my foot on the ice I got scared so I
moved my foot on the ice and I… I SLIPPED
and I got so frightened that I started to cry, so

then my friend called Mimi came to the rink.

As I was waiting I could smell the ice as she was coming. I could also smell
food because we were right next to the food court. When Mimi came she helped me
to move my feet to start ice skating. As soon as I started to ice skate. I started to like
it.So I started to ice skate by myself and I loved it. Later,I realized that I should try
something new all the time even when I am scared so maybe you will like it after all.



Art
Ilias Kachri November 2021

I never considered myself a good artist, or a creative person. Art
has been one of the most challenging subjects in all of my three ongoing
years at ASD. When we have a free draw I would just scribble. When we
had to blend with oil pastels I would just mix random colors. Even when
we had to sketch three D shapes. I would always mess up the shading
or make the shape look two D. I never realized that I had lots of art
potential, and creativity buried deep.

My first year at ASD was in third grade. I did well in most of the
subjects ,but art. I preferred PE or IT instead of art. Whenever we had
art I would grip my pencil and just draw. I drew shapes and self portraits.
Even landscapes with trees, birds and buildings. What made it even
worse was the uncomfortable hard table and rough seat. I really did not
like most of my artwork because I could not observe small details and
the drawing made the object look unoriginal. One of the only things I did
like was a cupcake drawing I did later in the year, probably because it is
my favorite food.

In my second year at ASD I improved on my artwork. It kept
getting better,and better as the year went along. It was also a time
where I became more creative and I was starting to not draw stick

figures. I also paid more attention to
my art teacher. My coloring was
getting better. My blending with the oil
pastels could use some work. Also I
would hear the scraping of pencils.
When I drew I started adding details
and color. One thing that annoyed me
was when my classmates talked too
much. I also started observing patterns
and drawing them. One day I even
made posters at home to help in
science. They included colored
drawings as well. I loved the fragrant oil pastels smell in art class.
Whenever I walked in , there would always be my classmates' scent of
oil pastels and paint. Thankfully it would still be muffled by my mask’s
blockage of air.

In fifth grade my art progress was stalled because of hybrid and
TVS learning. I was happy to learn that we now we could be able to be
back to school 100%. When I first walked into the art class, I was
amazed. There was an art shop which had all the art supplies you could
ever need. I even saw pringle packs hidden behind some boxes. There
were dots on each table. I was put at the purple table with my
classmates Aya and Saleh. My art started looking not so good, but I
knew that it was just the beginning, and I would get better. It is hard to
be good at art. You either have talent and passion for art, or you need
lots of practice.

Ever since then I have learned to do my very best to be creative
when I need it. Also sometimes in life you need to learn to overcome
challenges. If we don’t then we won’t know how to deal with more
complicated challenges in the future. “It will get harder before it gets
easier.”

Surgery Commented [1]: Compound sentence.

Jaxon Mock Nov, 2021

I had been keeping track of the date. It was Thursday. The day I
have dread for almost 3 months. I remember how twitchy and scared I
was. I tried getting distracted by reading and playing video games, but it
made me even worse. Soon, my mind was totally caught in fear. The
thing that was bothering me the most was that there is a 50% chance
that I could never wake up again… and never see my family again
either. Luckly, my dad came to my rescue, and somehow made me feel
a little better. Soon it will be time.

It was 10:45, exactly an hour from surgery. I was so nervous, but I
did my daily routine, dress, and get breakfast. Truthfully, I didn't know
what to do, but a few minutes later, my mom came to my rescue. She
knew what could get my mind off things- video games. I played roblox
for at least 45 minutes. Until it was Life threatening time. My mom told
me that we should get going in 10 minutes. I slowly walked to the
kitchen, filled my water, and got my shoes on. It felt like eternity. when
we finally got to the northern campus of Surgery (well that's what I called
it)( I don't remember what it was called).

We went inside to see the front desk which made me even more Commented [2]: Compound sentence.
scared because it reminded me of surgery. We surprisingly had to wait 25
minutes to hear our name. We walked, turning left and right, until we came
into this peculiar large lounge room. Just after we walked in, a nurse came
in and gestured for us to follow her. Somehow, my head just was empty.
Clueless. I was just enormously nervous, but I tried to act brave. We
walked and walked until finally entered a hallway, which had a sign
hanging on a rope on the ceiling,which said, "Emergency rooms," (which
to me said, "Surgery rooms"). It finally was time.

When we found the room, I was told to go to the bathroom just in case I
went on the bed. They also gave me some hospital clothes, so it would
be acceptable.
Then, after a few minutes they told me to get on one of those wheel
beds and hold on. When we eventually got there, there were these guys

that had those blue suits that covered their whole body. They asked me Commented [3]: Compound sentence.
some questions, like if I was nervous or scared. Then, they brought the
anesthesia mask. Surgery time. 2 hours later, I woke up and the nurse

was a little shocked. She also told me
that normally kids would wake up an
1 hour later after surgery, but I woke
up 10 minutes later!

Looking back, I realized
that I made myself think that it was
more bad than it really was. After my
surgery, I was able to celebrate by
going somewhere special. That also
helped me a lot about how scared I
was (On a 1/10 chart I was probably
at the 9.5/10) I learned that you should commit yourself to do hard things
even if you are too scared to do it. After this, I also learned that rewards
can come in the end.

First Time Going To ASD
Joshua Neeson - November 11, 2021

After a long summer break and a while not going to school.
(Because covid) I was going to my new school (ASD) for the time ever
for academic reasons. I was nervous because I didn't know anybody and
had no friends (At the school) at the time. "Sigh," I said, because I didn't
know I would meet some friends for life.

I finally walked into the school and my class. I didn't know anybody
so I was really scared. I walked into class, chose my seat and had a chat
to my future friends about a story with my dad. Little did I know that
these people would be my friends for at least a while. (I mean I've only
known them for about a year so I would not know if they are not my
friends in the future) Because I was in a different school everything
surprised me, from the people in my class to the place where the
window was!

After getting to know my classmates (and future friends) a bit
more, it was time for some fun learning. Sadly though I forgot what we
did for the day. I had a nice time getting to know my classmates, one of
them even went to my old school. The classroom was a decent size (For
10 people I guess) and had a huge window so there was a lot of light. In

one of the lessons I learned that my
teacher was Canadian, but was
born in Portugal. At recess I saw my
friend that I had known for a while,
so went over to say hello, and play
soccer with him. I didn't know
anybody so I started talking to
people next to me, but I didn't know
this would spark a friendship with
Vasco.

Sadly though after a long ,but nice day of school it was time to go.
For some reason I didn't know how this day would reflect on me later,
learning wise and friendship wise. When I went back home, I found my
mom and brother, who were going to ask a lot of questions, as I thought.
My mom asked how my day went, so I said it went well and told her all
about it. The next day I did hybrid school, it was also the first time doing
that. What I learned from this is that I am 100% a better learner in
person.

Looking back now, I remember I was excited and I was celebrating
going to school that time. From this one experience, I was beaming
again because I thought covid would end soon so we wouldn't have to
wear masks and we would be in school everyday. (like now) That night I
went to bed hopeful, hoping that one thing ruining millions of people's
lives, covid, would end soon.

Kiki's Experience
Katerina Antoniadou - November, 2021

"Meoww meoww," My mom, my brother and I heard a cat
squealing for help. We ignored it.
Two days later…
"Meaww meaww," My mom, my brother, my father and I heard the
"Meaww meaww." My father had just arrived in Cyprus. "What is this
noise?" my father asked. We told him that we have been hearing it for a
long time since we were here, in Cyprus, but we could never figure out
what it was.

As fast as a cheetah, my father and I ran to our neighbor's house,
requested if we could check their garden. We carefully checked the
garden. Nothing. We heard the "Meaww meaww." again. "It is coming
from the car," My father asked for the car keys. We anxiously searched
in the car. Disappointingly, there were no kittens there. "Meaww
meaww." the kitten continued "It is coming from the engine!" I stated. My
father opened the hood of the car. Suddenly in front of us there was a
tiny, microscopic, hungry and frightened kitten. "Meaww meaww." The
kitten was so scared. My father picked her up. "Shhh" My father was
rocking the kitten. Instead of feeling calm the kitten bit my father really
badly.

After that, my father picked up the kitten, returned the keys and got
home. When the kitten bit my father, he ran to get a vaccine, in case the
kitten was sick. At first the kitten was hostile, and she really wanted to be

alone. While my father was gone, my brother and I got a name for the
kitten. We contently decided to name her Kiki. By the time my father was
home Kiki was sneezing. We took Kiki to the vet and I was nervous. The
vet said that Kiki was a girl. on the ride home I was holding Kiki in a box

until… Kiki jumped on the window, but it was closed, so she hit her
head.

After all of that, I picked up Kiki and rocked her to
sleep. "Shhh" I started whispering. By the time I got kiki
quiet she was sleeping and I got her together and put her
on the grass to sleep. After I got inside she started
meowing. I gave her some kitten food. She started
purring. I started jumping but not too much. Kiki was
purring. I was so excited. I started walking slowly inside
with her as I got some treats for her. I set her down. I
made a sound holding up my hand with the treat. Kiki
came to me and I pet her. I picked her up and set her on
some cardboard boxes that we had stacked up, one on another. I
hugged Kiki.

As time went by, I realised that Kiki was ours for a while, as we
know, good moments end at some point. The second I heard the bad
part I started to cry. "The only bad part is that we have to leave Cyprus
in four weeks." My father said We had to give her to another family. I
was heartbroken, but I had to accept it. After that day, I learned that it is
good to help animals. I will just have to say "bye" at some point.