I still remember the day my family moved from the city to a small town. Everything felt different - their way of life, their accents, even the houses. They fascinated me. I had the feeling of excitement mixed with nervousness about starting a new school. I had read books about village schools and how they were completely free to do certain things unlike in the city where we were restricted from doing a lot of things in a bid to protect us.
I was ready to explore, but I was scared that they might not want to mingle with a city boy like me. I know they were told that we were full of pride. But, I was different.
On the first day, I wore my best clothes and my mom prepared my favorite meal. We walked into the school and I began to notice the difference.
Some kids were playing in the dirt. Others were playing football while some girls were playing suwe game.
"Look at that city boy!" One of the boys pointed at me. "His clothes are too shiny!" He shouted to my hearing
I was beginning to feel unease but my mum encouraged me. It was the first day of resumption and after my mum registered me, I decided to join the boys in playing some football games.
But everytime I tried to join, they would push me aside, and tease me for being so soft.
"You are so soft. You don't even want to get dirty like us. Go away!" One of them said
My eyes stung with tears. Why couldn't they just leave me alone?
At the recess, I brought out my food to eat and they all started to laugh at me. "Why can't you eat the simple food we are eating?"
I was beginning to feel like an outsider. Maybe I was really different from them. Maybe I didn't belong there. I wanted to run away.
One day, while in class, the teacher asked a question and I raised my hands to give an answer. They were all surprised because none of them could provide an answer.
After school that day, they all surrounded me, asking me different questions and I gave an answer to every question. They were all amazed.
"Wow! You're really intelligent!" A girl exclaimed.
I felt like I was floating in the air.
After that day, they would all come to me and ask that I teach them. It was so much fun and I even started teaching them the importance of being neat. It took time but they were able to adjust.
They started to include me in their games and I learned to embrace the roughness. It made us equal. We became a team and I realized that though I felt lost in the beginning, I had found my voice and even made it loud for them to hear.
I was excited of the progress I had made and I realized that being different wasn't a crime. Instead, it was what made me special.
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