Editor’s note: The following is one boy’s account of his recent move from New Hampshire to Bentonville.
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 found out that we were moving! I absolutely hate to move. I also hate the feeling of moving because it can be kind of depressing. As always my mom said to look at the bright side. You get smarter each and every time. When I found out that we were moving to Arkansas I thought, why there? In the middle of nowhere! I was also really bummed out that I had to leave all my friends and that we only lived there for about a year made it even worse. I had mixed emotions. I was really sad and mad but somewhathappy and I don’t know why.
Thursday, November 24, 2011 (Thanksgiving)
It was my sister’s, my dad’s and my first time in Bentonville, but my mom had been there before because it was her job that we were moving for. It was my Thanksgiving break.
We were just visiting. I said that I did not really like it there because always when you know you are moving to a place and you don’t want to move and you wantto try to persuade your parents into not moving (which never works) you always say that you don’t like it there. Again I had mixed emotions because I was very sad and angry but I was still somewhat happy.
When I fi rst reached Northwest Arkansas I was really scared for some reason but it slowly went away. While my dad and mom were getting the rental car, my sister and I went outside and took pictures. The airport was really small. The hotel where we stayed was really fancy. I really liked the hotel. That was probably the only thing I liked.
The next morning was Black Friday, so my sister and I went to the mall to get clothes for her. After that we went to get lunch and then we all met back at the hotel. The next day we were going to look at somehouses. There were some houses there that were OK and there were some houses that were horrible but when we saw one house we all loved it so we decided that we were going to get that house. I knew that I was going to miss my old house but I was really happy about this house and I still don’t know why!
Friday, Feb. 3, 2012
My last day at New Hampshire! Man was I sad.
I really was going to miss all my friends, especially my class and my best friend, Max. Everyone told me that they were going to miss me a lot and I knew that I was going to miss them. Even though I had only stayed there for a year I felt like I learned so much from New Hampshire.
It made me sad that we had to move again. I wish that we could have stayed longer. At least I got tospend Friday with Max.
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012
This morning we drove to Boston and stayed at my cousin’s. I could not say bye to New Hampshire so I said, “See ya later alligator” like someone told me to do. Wow we are actually moving.
Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012
We got on the fl ight! I could not believe that we were actually moving! Four hours later, we actually landed in Bentonville. We were actually there! I had a bad/unusual feeling. When I first got to the house my heart was aching because it was different and I really miss New Hampshire, but as I went through the day it sort of went away.
Monday, Feb. 6, 2012
We unpacked a lot of stuff and got all set up and my dad enrolled me in the new school. When I fi rst went to this new schoolmy heart was aching and I got that bad/unusual feeling again. It did not feel right. It was not the same.
At this point I missed my old friends even more.
My first day did not go so well. I went home early in the day because I got a stomachache. My second day went a little better but it still did not feel right, but as time passed it got better.
Now I feel so much better. I can’t wait to start basketball, tennis and soccer here. I have made a lot of new friends and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I guess my mom was right. I do get smarter every time. Well that was my story!
SHYAM CHANDRA IS A FOURTHGRADER AT THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN BENTONVILLE.
Opinion, Pages 16 on 05/06/2012