I was so excited. Something that I worked so hard for had finally happened. Oh well, I thought I worked hard for it. But, I mean, how does a Kindergartener judge how hard they work? Well, considering that most Kindergarteners find it very stressful to do little things, I find it hard to believe that my 5 year old self could judge it as such. But as a distant memory, I remember it as a very stressful and very taxing challenge.

Tying my shoes was something that I had been practicing all that summer with my babysitter Jean. Sitting on the steps at 6543 Witherbee Drive, tying shoes was something that I looked forward to. I had practiced the less complicated bunny ears and the more complicated one loop but I still couldn’t figure out how to finish the whole process.

So when the first day of Kindergarten came I was a little overwhelmed with not just going to a big school for the first time but, I didn’t know who was going to tie my gym shoes. Now my mom assured me that Mrs. Anderson, my teacher, would help me tie my shoes but I really wanted to be able to tie my own shoes, just like every other Kindergartener wanted.

Walking in the first day of school we put our gym shoes in the box shape cubbies that were to the left of the door right when you walked in. As a single line we walked in, hesitated, and put our things away as we were told.

We sat and talked for a while, then Mrs. Anderson told us that it was time for gym. At first I was excited; I loved gym. It was something that I had looked forward to even on my first day of school. But then the nervousness set in – how was I going to tie my shoes?

I walked over hesitantly, grabbed my shoes from my cubie and watched as many of my classmates continued to put on and then I tied my shoes. So for one last time, I tried to tie my shoes and not just the simple way but they more complicated way. I slowly concentrated and recited what Jean had said a million times to me “Make a loop with one side, twist the other side around and pull through” but this time was different. This time I did. I couldn’t contain my excitement as I ran over to my twin sister Mackenzie and preceded to tell her that I finally tied my shoe. But looking down, I now realized I still had to do the other side but with my surprised I realized it was just as easy as the first. So with my cheeks red with excitement I walked to gym on my first day of school with a memory that seems like it was yesterday. A memory that seemed so hard to achieve but it was worth every step.