Center Parcs (2018)

Center Parcs (2018)

This holiday had a lot of fun in a very short time.

Year 7

Year 7

Year 7 was an interesting year for me, but like any year it had its ups and downs. At the start when I first saw my secondary school, the first difference from primary school I saw, was the size. I wondered if I would be able to walk out of the school without getting lost. But when I stepped into
 the main hall, it felt just like my old school, just bigger.

Of course everyone was nervous, which was normal, some for schoolwork, some on tests, some on making friends but for most people, it was all of them. They got every single student that were joining (there were 110 of them) and put us in a hall so we could "socialise" with people that we have never even seen before. I know, the idea sounds spine-chilling but we had no choice. Luckily I knew one person who went to the same school as did, but she was weird so I much rather have made new friends. 

But you just have to be bold when trying to make friends, otherwise you will end up not having any. In primary school there is always someone, no matter how shy you are, who will come up to you but in secondary school its much harder. Uneasy faces filled the hall, but most people knew others and were making friends easily. Though some were closed up, like a flower bud closing when evening falls. They said nothing personal, apart from their names, and just didn't care about friends.

The first few days, teachers were nice, less homework was set and everyone was caring and understanding. The school was a chaos for the new year seven. People getting lost and people forgetting their next lessons, was very common. The corridors were very busy, everyone going this way, then that way. I thought that the school needed traffic lights. It felt weird because one day I was the oldest in my primary school, and the next I am the youngest in my secondary school.

The way I travelled to school, was a one hour, twenty minutes school bus journey. Although the journey made me more independent, it was hard to balance my swimming lessons with this long journey

As weeks passed by, work got harder and teachers started raising their voices in lessons. One of my favourite places in the school was the biology lab. I found using a microscope really interesting and I would always learn something new in my biology lesson.

I had made a few friends and realised they were much nicer than my old school ones. When it was the middle of the year things just got worse. I started having friendship problems, homework pressure increased and my monthly test results dropped. I didn't know how to deal with everything. Then the time for end-of-year exams came. The pressure really hit me that time, and I lost concentration when revising.

It was a whole week of continuous exams. A week of stress. A week of torture. Some took the exams very seriously and would glue their head in a revision book in every spare second they got. Others couldn't care less and just acted as if it was just a normal school week. My shaking hands picked up my pen and.......go! That was the start of exam week.

When exam week finished, we had a bush craft 3 day residential trip straight after the exams. We had to camp in the woods with no electronic devices, and learn how to survive. We learnt how to make traps to catch animals, making fire, skinning rabbits, carving survival tools and many more. We also jumped into a freezing lake and I'm sure that it stopped my blood circulation for a few minutes. The trip was supposed to be relaxing, after a stressful week, but I was distracted. I kept on thinking about my friends and how I should re-build the lost camaraderie.

Then as soon as we knew it, it was the end of the year and I was so relieved. If I got through year 7, how hard could year 8 be?

Written by Gargi Chakrabarti
06/08/2018
(Age 12) 

Year 7

Year 7

Year 7 was an interesting year for me but like any year it has its ups and downs. At the start when you first see your secondary school, the first difference from primary school you see, is the size. When I saw mine, I wondered if I would be able to walk out of the school without getting lost. But when you step in the main hall it feels just like your old school just bigger.

Of course everyone is nervous, which is normal, some for schoolwork, some on tests, some on making friends but for most people it is all of them. For my school they got every single student that were joining (there were 110 of them) and put us in a hall so we could "socialise" with people that we have never even seen before. I know, the idea sounds spine-chilling but we had no choice. Luckily I knew 1 person who went to the same school as did but she was weird so I much rather have made new friends. 

But you just have to be bold when trying to make friends otherwise you will end up not having any. In primary school there is always someone, no matter how shy you are, who will come up to you 

Trekking in Greece

Trekking in Greece

We all set of on the pebble trail, the three, excited and one-me, was pretending to be excited. My dad said this gorge is one of the must-see places in Greece, the Imbros gorge, but to me it just sounded boring and I would much rather be lying by the pool back at the hotel. The views were the only good thing about the trek almost like something from a movie, but it felt much better seeing it with my own eyes.

After walking for a bit, I just got very bored so I listened to music so I could zone out into another world, rather than think about when this trail would come to an end. After walking for at least 3 hours, my trainers had changed from white to beige and the soles felt like they were peeling off. The pebbles were like daggers pricking my soles and aching my heels making the pain unbearable.

Now all I wanted to do is to lie down on a bed and no-one else seemed to be trekking this late, typical family trait. Then this sudden feeling hit me. It was a mix of scare and panic. What if we never make it in time? What if the taxi that was supposed to bring us back to the car park never arrived this late? What if we are stuck here. All night. Alone. All of these questions exploded in my brain and it just made me cry.

I don't normally cry about small things, but this time it felt different. Almost like I was meant to cry and that it would make me think differently about things. Then I could see the sea and the sight just lit up my face. It was like seeing  light at the end of a dark tunnel.

We waited a while until a taxi came. It had a haggard look and was colourless. The driver was an old lady but very chatty. She said she was a German in Greece but loved Greece a lot. I was scared the taxi would completely break into pieces as we were going up  the steep hills of the gorge. The lady spoke a lot but I didnot care , I just wanted to sleep.

This trek was interesting and I say that because it did change my approaches to family treks. One thing I know for sure, is that this trek was definitely not boring, otherwise why would I cry in it? I'm not sure if I liked this trek or not but despite the pain and the panic, it made me feel a feeling that I never felt before in family outings. I was scared, unsure and even  I thought whether I was going to make it out alive. But from now on, I'm going to give things a chance, even if that means I almost come out dead. Always start things with enthusiasm even if the outcome isn't so great, you must have learnt something on your outings because I definitely have. And yes, I would much rather have gone out with my friends but if you give it a try, family isn't so bad either.

By Gargi Chakrabarti
Thursday 2nd August 2018
(Aged 12)