Dear Patricia,

I am writing this to apologize for what I said, but also for you to understand why I got so defensive the other time.

When I left Nogales, I was so scared to face what awaited me, but in reality, I really shouldn’t have been. The people here are very nice. They’ve never bore hard feelings upon me, even if I did make some mistakes.

They’re also a family, everyone is like siblings here, we may fight, but we also make up with each other. Even if someone were to poke their eye out, they’d be forgiven by the end of the day. Everyone is fair and cheerful here; at least, to me they were.

A new student also came this year (Olivia), as well as me. Little by little, we became friends with people from the class and even became a part of this wonderful family.

I got so offended when you asked: “So?” Because that’s like asking, is spending time with your family and friends important? Of course they are. Maybe you had a bad day, I don’t know, still, why would you act like that when you know nothing about the people here? Sure, I’ve told you some really bad things about them, but I’ve never told you the nice things about my school, and if I told you, you probably wouldn’t care either. They may not be important to you, but to me, they are very special and I hate to see them go.

All the times I spend back in Lourdes cannot even compare to my time here in St. Cecilia, and I really regret having missed out on the fun they had here. Don’t get me wrong, I do not regret having you and the others as classmates and friends, but even then, the feelings I had then feels so trivial now. Maybe because I’m focusing the present much more than the past or the future that I’m thinking like this.

Everyone here has their little quirks and charms, like back in Nogales, but they never left me out, and if they did it was because everyone has their own little cliques (but what school doesn’t have them?). There in LCS, I was constantly left out because I was of a different ethnic group, I didn’t speak Spanish, and my mom was my teacher. I want to tell those people so bad, “Grow up.” Why would I cheat on the tests she gives out? I can get in big trouble for that, and we know how I feel about trouble.

I’m not even going to explain all the activities and events they did here, because it would take too long but just in general, they’ve made me open up more so that the activities there.

Class night was one of the last times all of us will be together, because after that, we would part ways. Even if we keep in touch with each other, it’s not the same because we’re not all together, in the classroom with our friends, peers, and teachers being us, middle school students. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, without a missing piece, the puzzle wouldn’t be complete, would it? Also during class night, they did a lot of us, far more than what we deserve…I don’t think a lot of people would go that far just to see EIGHTH graders graduate.

I hope after reading this you’ll understand why I was so offended and got so defensive about it. It takes a really open mind to do what they did to me…and a big huge heart to welcome me as a part of the family.