How does every teen drama start? Well, let me set the scene: it’s the new kid’s first day at a school they just started. They walk through the doors and are hit with a wave of stares from everyone in the room. They just moved to a new place that almost feels like a foreign country. As they are taking everything in about their new unique ways of life, all eyes are on them. They have the spotlight. Everyone is wondering what clique they will join and who they are.

I can tell you that being the new kid isn’t easy, but it isn’t so bad after all. To put it simply, you just get asked a lot of boring questions about yourself all the time. Obviously, there is more to it than that. The idea I had in my head about being the new kid was created by movies like The 10 Things I Hate About You and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

The first teen drama I watched was the ever-so-iconic Mean Girls: it is definitely a teen drama for a reason. The storyline and personalities within the film are highly exaggerated, but the basics of being the new kid are well portrayed. If you have ever seen the film, you would know that Cady, the main character, is an observer. She watched everyone go on with life normally, as she was trying to see where she would fit in.

The one thing that isn’t accurate about that film is how much kids care about clothes, popularity, and materialistic things. To be quite honest, nobody cares. In reality, everyone tries to look decent for the first week of school, but then they go right back to wearing sweatpants every single day. I mean, teen dramas get a few things right, such as the stares. I always get looks from people as if I am not human, or maybe I just have something on my face. I felt like everyone knew who I was, but I didn’t know any of them.

Either way, I was out of place for a while. I got picked apart and questioned. There is so much to comprehend: new classes, teachers, friends, and a new life. Woah. It’s almost too much to make sense of, but I felt like I had to keep it together in order for things to naturally get better. Trust me, they do. You meet some friends, you join a club, meet a teacher that is there for you, and you have stuff to do on the weekends other than unpacking boxes. 

If I had to give any advice on being the new kid, I would say don’t try to be someone you are not, and look at moving as a fresh start to be the truest version of yourself. Sure, it is scary to feel like a fish out of water, but soon enough, you will be in the swing of things. It’s normal to feel out of place, but that is what change is. This is very cliché and somewhat cringe, but if you are kind, you will make friends. The new kid: something I thought I would never be again. But I’m here, doing it, and it’s not going so bad.