Growing up and going to school with basically the same students all my elementary years was pretty normal. I typically grew up with the same group of kids, playing sports with most of them outside of school like soccer and hockey and saw a lot of their homes because of birthday parties and get togethers because of the sports we played. But I never saw a home that blew me away.
In some cases, during my elementary years some students would leave, and we would gain some new students, but not very often. To start out our grade 7 school year, we had a new student. This new student was not like the rest of us. He carried a certain attitude, one that none of us had really experienced before. In the beginning I never really gave much thought as to what it was about this certain individual that made him stand out. A few weeks into the school year I began to notice the shoes he was wearing, as well as the clothes he was wearing. He always seemed to have new clothes that appeared to be expensive, but I never gave it any real thought. Over time, he began to gain many friends and was eventually the most popular kid in our grade. At that time in our lives, being popular was a pretty big deal.
The end of October was rolling around and that meant Halloween. A week before Halloween the new student in the class brings a bag full of invitations to a Halloween party that he and his family would be hosting at his house. We were all pretty excited to spend some time away from school together as a class, not knowing what was in store for us. Upon arriving to his house, which was just a short drive from mine, my jaw dropped to the floor of my mom’s car. I turned to my mom and asked, “are you sure this is the right house” and she said, “yes look at the decorations, this is the right house”. As I sat in awe of the huge house, I got out of the car and walked past the two lifted trucks sitting in the driveway. There were Halloween decorations everywhere, spiders hanging from the wall and skeletons sitting on the steps. It was pretty creepy walking up to the front door, considering I was not convinced that this was my new friend’s house. The only thing I could think about was how rich his family must be for them to own this huge house. After ringing the doorbell, his mom answered and welcomed me inside. Walking into the house it was even more decorated inside. Spider webs hanging from a chandelier above my head that was easily worth more money than my entire house. Everywhere I looked I said to myself “wow”. I had never been inside such a beautiful home.
This was my first real experience of realizing where my family stood in the terms of a class. My family owns a business and works long hours, sitting us in the working class, whereas that friend’s family in grade 7 was clearly in the wealthy class and it was a crazy experience.
hey Curtis!
I enjoyed reading your story and I definitely see how that would be such a shock for a 7th grader (i know it would be shocking to me). My only constructive criticism is that I would focus into the specific moment a little more. Put it under a microscope of how shocked you were in that exact moment you drove up to the house. Also I wondered when you wrote “He carried a certain attitude, one that none of us had really experienced before” what kind of attitude it was that he had exactly. Was it, snotty, shy, outgoing? Was this new kid nice or rude? I would also include some other small details that would make me feel like it you were watching a described video in your head, like what was your costume, what was his mom wearing/looked like? Those kinds of things! Your story just goes to show that the status of the wealth you posses will effect your personal life and the way that others think of you (ie morals and family life). We often think that people who have money have no other problem in the world and I am sure that this new kid used his power of his parents having money to portray to people that his life is perfect in all ways, and we are, as society made to think that if you are rich, your life will be bliss.
thanks for sharing 🙂