My most memorable day in middle school probably has to be my last day. Last year during an athletics competition I tore my meniscus and was on crutches for more than a month. When I had two working knees, the walk that felt like a two-minute stroll soon turned into what felt like miles of sidewalk. It took me more than 10 minutes to get to middle school and it was too much for the first week. I didn't show up for three classes. Ms. Kelly knew why via email, but to this day I still don't know if she told the students what happened. When I finally got used to my crutches, I was able to walk across what felt like a huge campus and onto the elevator. As I limped into class, the look of happiness and concern covering each student's face and the simple "Sam, what did you do?" exclaimed a student I'll call Giuseppe. It was that simple observation that showed that I mattered to the students. Their first thought when I signed up for the course may have been that I would be easy to fool. I see that by the end of the year everything has turned into a friendship like none