It’s the first day of high school, September 7th, 2017. I am awake at 4 am, repeatedly checking over my backpack and reorganizing my folders and pencils to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I just can’t fall back asleep! After fidgeting around my room for another 30 minutes, I finally can’t take it anymore. My nerves got to me and I broke down in tears. I am so nervous about going to a large school, I start to feel self-conscious of every small thing, like the outfit that I’ve planned a week in advance. My shirt seems too bright and my shoes too old.
Just when I didn’t know what to do, my mom walks into my room with a shipping box. “It’s from your brother”, she says, while stroking her fingers through my hair. I looked up, puzzled. My brother is upstate in college and he has never sent anything back. I gently opened the package. Inside lie a card and a shoebox. My eyes brightened up when I opened the shoebox: it’s the pink Adidas Super Star that I’ve desperately wanted since middle school!
I picked up the card that’s densely packed with words, part of it reads:
Hey Tiff,
Congratulations on going into high school sis, I hope this package arrives in time for your first day. I know how much pressure it is to enter a scary, new environment, and I just want you to know that I will always be here for you…
I put down the card and burst into tears in my mom’s embrace.
I’ve never felt so understood.
I put on the brand new shoes and stepped into the scary unknown. But I wasn’t scared, because I know I can always count on my brother.