Emma Durocher
EMS Press
Traverse City East MS
1st Place
MS Division, News Writing
Personal Narrative
If you have ever thought that you wanted to punch someone you were mad at, you’re wrong. A lot of times as humans, when we get upset or angry, we sometimes take it to physical measures. Maybe you think hurting someone physically will make them feel what you do emotionally. Or maybe you think it will give you some type of closure or relief, but all it does is create more strife.
Let me tell you from experience. The aftermath of what happened will hurt you more than your injuries. The mental part of it will be harder to unravel and solve than the actual fight. The name calling and questioning bystanders will be more difficult to deal with than any aspect of the fight.
Whether you win or lose a fight, the fallout afterwards just isn’t worth it. When I say that it mentally hurt, I mean it. It hurts my brain to try to comprehend why I got myself into a quarrel with someone. I have no justifiable reason. What I did was wrong. What WE did was wrong. I didn’t know that at the time, or care for that matter. All I wanted to do was please the crowd around me and get a sense of closure with this person.
After being grounded for a week and suspended for three school days, I did a lot of thinking. I sat in my room and forced myself to be alone with my own thoughts and contemplate my actions, I learned a few things. Things I thought already knew but clearly didn’t. Hence the position I was in. I thought I knew self-control and I thought I knew how to stand tall and be the better person. But I didn’t.
My parents took away all of my social media. I despised them for it at the time, but I knew that if I had access to Facebook and other sites, I would get upset from the rumor spreading, name-calling and publicity this fight created. I couldn’t help but wonder what everyone else was saying.
It was a petty fight. Nothing more than some hair pulling and a few punches. Definitely enough to make my fellow students interested in it though. There are several rumors still spreading about how the fight was staged or planned. To this day, I don’t really know what happened. I don’t think either of us do.
If you’re not familiar with the 8th graders at my school, this next part should give you an idea. There has to be a winner and a loser in every fight. Someone who suffered and someone who kicked some butt. As immature 14-year-olds, we believe almost everything we hear. We also tend to forget that talking about someone instead of talking to them can really make someone feel alone. That’s how I felt. Yes, I was considered the loser and I’ll admit it, she got the best of me. But the worst part wasn’t getting suspended or getting grounded or having extra school work. It was coming back to school that really sucked.
People look at you differently. It seemed that all my teachers had lost respect for me. Everyone knew what happened, and even if they didn’t, people had videos to catch them up on it. I felt three steps behind everyone. My peers, in addition to whispering and making gestures, had a lot of questions. It was the first anyone has heard from me in about a week, so I couldn’t blame them. It took a bit for me to be comfortable again, but I did it.
I wasn’t thinking when I started it. I wasn’t thinking about who or what it would affect. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences I would have to face for my actions. But the important thing is that I learned from it. I can look at it is as a huge mistake and dwell on it, or I can leave it as a part of my past and move forward. My choice? It’s in my past. I will never make that mistake again, and I’m moving on.