Fear started taking over. I was walking into my first school in America. I had traveled a long distance from Sierra Leone  in order to join my Aunt, who had been here for thirty years, hoping America would help my future. My father decided that I would be better off going to school here, so I enrolled in one of the best high schools  in my new town.  The name of the school is Charles Herbert Flowers High School. The school was founded by a first black conductor, in 2000. His name is Charles Herbert Flowers.
On the 24th September 2015, was my first day in school (Flowers).   I was afraid how I would do. I didn’t know anybody in my classes. On the first day, I went to my second period class after I had missed my first. I was already confused because in Sierra Leone the teachers switch according to periods while most of the students have the same periods.
With anxiety on one hand and fear on the other, I reached for the door knob, opening it slowly. Everyone’s eyes were on me as I entered the room. Without paying attention to them, I went straight to the teacher and asked if this was the right class. With a soft voice he answered, “Yes.” His voice comforted me a little. He told  me to go to my counselor for my course requirements, but at first i didn’t know my counselor’s office but i never wanted to ask him because i was ashamed. So i slowly moved out of the class, on my way i saw a little boy who  directed me to my counselor’s office. I went to her office and asked her for my subject requirements, she then gave it to me. My counselor’s  name  is  Mrs King. When i came back to class, the teacher asked me for the subject requirements, which i would never get in Sierra Leone, because in Sierra Leone we never get something like that.  I showed it to him.   Then he asked me to choose where I would sit. I chose the seat closest to the door instead of the corner where all of the boys were sitting. I didn’t actually want to pick a seat. In Sierra Leone  we had assigned seats, so I never needed to worry about that. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the image produced by the overhead projector. In Sierra Leone  schools, we  didn’t  use overhead projector. Matter of fact, we  don’t  have anything like that.  We had to take notes as the teacher spoke.
Since it was my first day, I was confused which hallway to use, but I managed to get to my classes without asking anyone. I was very confused about when I would have lunch. It was noon. I went to my next class and the bell rang as I entered. I went through the regular process of asking the teacher if I was in the right class. She said, “It’s still fourth period.”
“But the bell just rang,” I said.
Changing from a gentle tone to a harsher one, she said, “That is the lunch bell.” I apologized. Without another word I headed for the cafeteria. I felt lucky because we didn’t have this in Sierra Leone.  Every confusion seemed like an obstacle I had to get through to reach my goal. At the end of the day, I was on my way to the bus which we didn’t have in Sierra Leone either. I spotted my bus and sat down inside happily. I was thinking, Today wasn’t so bad.
As time passed that year, I developed some friendships and started to love my school. I found out that U.S. citizens have many opportunities but not everyone is using them. Some people take them for granted, not realizing that other countries are struggling.
The teachers had a fun way of making hard things so easy that a three-year-old could do them. The teachers in my home country had a more strict way of saying things. We also had much longer school days in Sierra Leone – 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. – while in America school was 7:30 a.m to 2:15 p.m. The main difference I found in America is the amount I learned each day. In the U.S. schools I learned a lot less material. So, I had more prior knowledge than most of the kids in my class, which gave me an advantage. Because of these educational opportunities I feel I am the luckiest person in the whole world.