My Memoir

Nicole Brouwer

            There have been many happy times in my life, but I can’t really think of any that have been very life-changing.  I believe that the best way to become stronger is by enduring hard times.  The reason behind this is because I have indeed gone through many tough challenges.  I am certain that there are far worse trials that a person can go through than the things I have experienced, but for me the most challenging two years that I have faced were probably the best two years for most people.

            In 2009, Natalie and I entered seventh grade.  We finally graduated to a new building, our own lockers and the freedom of running in the halls.  It seemed like such a big leap from one grade to the next, but that didn’t matter; I was in junior high and I was ecstatic!

            On the very first day of school, one of my teachers said that some of us might have less homework than we did in sixth grade, but some, however, would have more.  I hoped, of course, that junior high would be less stressful with the amount of homework and that things would get better for me.  But before I knew it, I was sitting in a small room upstairs trying to think of ways to solve all my problems in front of a counselor.  His name was Wendell Vuerink and I will never forget him.  “I procrastinate too…” he always said.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t my problem; I just wasn’t able to finish school projects on time.  Even though we were never able to solve anything, we still had a lot of great conversations.  I can still remember the feeling of the awkward silence between questions and the moments where each and every breath taken was heard.

            That also brings me back to a prior event that will be present in my memory forever.  When my mom brought me to the doctor, it was the same type of atmosphere that I experienced in school.  This time, my mom was in the room with me and the discussion was more serious.  Throughout the whole year of seventh grade, I started to think hard about what Heaven would be like and how it would feel to live forever and ever.  I also started to ponder how short my life on this earth is and just how short time is until all of my relatives will pass away.  “When I get to Heaven, what will I remember of this life?” I asked.  Thoughts like this raced through my mind, and made me very sad.  With most of these questions, I have found answers, but others I still think about.  Unfortunately, back then, these things made me feel very sad and hopeless.

            That was a huge part of seventh grade and to my distress, it continued through eighth grade.  Though my problems were not as extreme, I still struggled with my homework.  Surprisingly, it was not the difficulty level, it was simply the amount.  Every night, I was at war.  I could barely get my homework done on time.

            Sports that year were also somewhat challenging.  I didn’t feel like I was good enough at anything; basketball or volleyball.  Sometimes I asked myself why I even went out for sports, but most of the time I was stuck wondering, “Why me?  Why do all these things have to happen to me?”

            Not a whole lot got better after that and the homework situation stayed the same as in the beginning of the year.  So at the end of junior high, I could only look back and realize how right my sixth grade teacher had been when she told us how seventh and eighth grade were the worst two years of her life.  For me, seventh and eighth grade were indeed the toughest and most challenging two years of my life.

            It is hard for me to explain two years in only two pages.  They have been the longest two years I have ever experienced.  Though I have gone through a lot, I have watched loved ones go through a lot.  I think that along with experiencing hard times has also made me stronger.  Through all of this, I have learned how to deal with tough times if a road block ever does cross my path.