The Newbie

Thankfully, I've never had the burden of being the "new kid" at school.

No matter what school I attended ... Be it elementary/middle school, high school, or college ... I enrolled and then completed each span of learning without incidence. I was never transferred or otherwise removed from the people that I had grown accustomed to being with. I wasn't plopped into an entirely new educational situation, not knowing a soul, while everyone else had had the time to develop lasting bonds of friendship before I'd arrived.

I have taken enough jobs in my life to know that there is always an entry period of learning the ropes and making acquaintances, yet it seems so much stronger in a school setting. As my first week at my new school comes to a close, I am trying to shake off that "new kid" feeling. About half of the teachers at the school were around for its inaugural year (last year) and have obviously built bonds through their shared struggles and triumphs. The rest of the faculty, the other "new kids," came on weeks, if not months ago. I was tacked on to the roster just this week, the newest new employee of all, and it's very hard to shake that nagging feeling that I'm the odd man (woman) out.

Am I being annoying?

Am I asking too many questions?

Am I trying too hard and talking too much?

Am I coming across as stiff or awkward? Standoffish or stuck-up?

While I am, technically, in high school again, I feel like I'm back in high school.

Deep down, I'm the same awkward girl who could blend in with the athletes, the drama geeks, the honor students, and even (surprisingly, at times) the cool kids ... If I could do it as a freckled, brace-faced, glasses-wearing late bloomer, I can do it now (as a freckled, straight-toothed, contact-wearing twenty-something).

I guess the real issue is going to be getting the students to like me ...