Going to a new elementary school 

There I stood in front of the class on the first day at a new school. I just saw the people staring deeply into my soul when I stood up in front of the class. I had butterflies in my stomach. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my skin. I had to represent myself to all of the students in my class. I was scared to say that I just stayed quiet the whole time until the teacher told me to say my name and age. I felt really awkward and shy because everyone was looking at me, and then there was this girl who told me to be brave and speak, and get it over with. So I did “My name is Marlyn and I am 7 years old and I love dogs”. After that, I sat down next to this girl named Annabelle, and she was so nice and sweet. As time went by I started getting closer to her, and 2 months passed and we became very close friends. The next day, there was a new girl in my class and she was very scared to represent themselves. I told her to take some breath and she did, and I told her to be brave and she started to speak. She was lonely and didn't have any friends, and asked me to be my friend. I had 2 close friends that I met in 2nd grade named Annabelle and Emily. They were very nice to me, and I really enjoyed being in that school for the rest of elementary school. 

By Marlyn Flores Herrera

“Let's go, ladies, come on, come on” were the first words I heard after changing into our surprise dance outfit. I was running my hands through my hair over and over again, trying to breathe in and out slowly, but it wasn't helping at all. You could hear everyone's laughter as they finished touching up their makeup, changing, fixing their hair, and putting on their boots. The jean shorts were starting to feel tighter, and I felt like I was starting to sweat

You could hear the announcements from the changing room, the music irritatingly loud, and the song they were playing coming to an end, and by the end of that song, we had to be out of the changing rooms and onto the dance floor. My hands were gripping the sink for some sort of grounding feeling, so that I could focus on anything other than my face feeling hotter by the second.

“Alright, I'm done. Are you guys ready?” The quinceañera was finished getting ready, and with the flood of everyone saying “I'm done,” there wasn't anything to keep me calm, but it wasn't like I could do anything. The chambelanes were going out first, so the damas were in a line at the door of the changing room, waiting to get called out. My stomach felt cold, my hands were clinging onto the belt hooks of the shorts, and I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears.

“Alright, go go go.” The dance instructor was signaling with her hands for everyone to get out and get onto the dance floor; the announcement had called us out. We all followed the quinceañera out in a line, and somehow we got to the dance floor so fast. We were all in our places, and the lights were practically blinding me every time I looked up. Just crowded tables surrounded us, and you could feel everyone's eyes on you. Breath in, breath out, breath in, and out. The music started to play, and my body was moving without even thinking about it.

Every step felt like a breath of fresh air, ignoring the crowd of people around us and moving along with everyone else. The shorts didn't feel tight anymore, my palms weren’t sweaty. My breath wasn't shaky, and my stomach didn't feel like it was frozen. I moved along with my partner, the weight on my shoulders sliding right off as we listened to the music and danced right along with it. I felt so much lighter, so much calmer, and like all the panicking was all for nothing. I knew we still had a few more dances to go and like 4 more hours of being on our feet, but that was fine by me. As long as felt like this the whole night.

By Emily Mora Lopez