1st prize, 1st cycle, II English Literary Contest
I clearly remember the first time I went to school. Mum woke me up earlier than usual on that September morning. She drew the curtains and I could see the sun smiling at me in the sky, as if it wanted to give me courage. I had a look at my new schoolbag lying on the armchair and excitedly thought of all that wonderful new stuff I had put in there the night before: a notebook, a box of colour pencils, a rubber, a sharpener, two striped yellow and black pencils… those were my new treasures. I had promised mum to be careful with all of them.
I was feeling both nervous and afraid. I remember I could hardly have my breakfast and didn’t stop moving, biting my nails and asking questions with no answer, while mum was washing my face and combing my hair. I had a last look into the mirror and felt quite satisfied with my appearance. The moment had come to leave…
Everything was familiar to me at home but, what was a school like? What kind of people was I going to meet there? What was a poor four-year-old girl expected to do? Too many questions to be answered in such a hurry. I couldn’t be late on my first school day. I might be scolded or even punished by my teacher… I was really frightened with that horrible idea. At last, we were ready. Mum smiled sweetly as she picked up my schoolbag from the chair and then she held my trembling hand firmly. I was certain that nothing bad could happen to me while holding her hand.
In a few minutes we reached my new school. There were a lot of pupils and parents standing outside the entrance gate. The smiling teachers welcomed us and kindly greeted our parents. Suddenly, mum kissed my head, whispered something I couldn’t understand in my ear and pushed me softly so that I could join the group of the youngest ones… When I saw mum turn round and hurry away, I mean, when I found myself completely alone and abandoned… I burst into tears, in fact like a lot of my schoolmates.
Luckily, our young teacher’s sweet words made us calm down, and the rest of the day went by in a nice way. Later, at home, I told my parents about the incredible adventure of drawing coloured lines on a paper sheet, sitting at a desk for the first time in all my life. I will never forget that sweet emotion, that unknown fear, that exciting first sense of independence.
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