June Story Contest

My Time with the Leprechauns
By: HorseCrazyMGirl
Age: 14

As I hugged my Dad good-bye, I felt a wave of excitement wash over me. We were at the airport, and I was off to the land of the leprechauns. It has been a tradition in my family that each child is sent to Ireland for 8th grade. The reason for this is as follows: My mother was born and raised in Dublin. She then moved to the USA to teach primary school. It was there that she met my Dad. When they got married, they made a choice that since all of us kids were going to be half-Irish, that we all spend one school year in Ireland to learn more about the culture and the different school system.
Now my time had come.
My Mom was coming with me for two weeks to settle me in, before she returned home. I was nervous, but I knew a little of what to expect. At least I thought I did. My 3 older siblings had already been there, and I had plagued them with questions.
“It’s hard in the beginning,” they all had told me, “But it gets better and you make a lot of friends.”
As we boarded the plane, I got ready to relax and sleep.
When we finally landed in Dublin airport, Mom and I stumbled out of the terminal, half-asleep. We had both slept some, but an airplane’s not the place for a good nights rest. It was 8:30am Irish time, and about mid-night back in Tucson (Too-son), my hometown. All we wanted to do was see a bed. My Nana greeted us and we started the further 2-hour drive to her house in Kildare. When I walked in the front door, I dragged myself to my room. Leaving my two suitcases at the door, I collapsed into bed, where I would stay for the next 6 hours. Mom tried to keep awake, and had a cup of tea with Nana, but she later told me that she hadn’t lasted an hour. A meeting with the principle of the Presentation Secondary School was scheduled for the following day. As I met Ms. Lanigan-Ryan and Ms. Collins, I felt a bit better. They were so polite and kind to me, understanding that I was scared stiff. I got sorted out with as many used books as possible, before leaving to collect my uniform, and the rest of my books. Over the next week, Mom and I had a lot of fun with Nana. We explored, shopped, hung out anything that we could, really. It was nice to get some time with Mom, away from my 5 other siblings and the stress and the never-quiet house. But then school was starting. I was in boarding school, something I heard of, but never really thought about.
That first night is un-forgettable.
The 9 other 8th grade (Or the equivalent) boarders had all known each other since last year, and had formed their own little group. I was the new kid, which naturally caused people to stare. Moreover, I was ‘the American girl’, which caused the entire school to ask me questions, even to this day.
That first night in the dorm was a little tense, as you can imagine. But then we all got talking. I answered as many of their eager questions as I could. And, in turn, they told me about school here. I’m home-schooled in the US, and had only ever been to school for music, Spanish and a math class. Even though I knew nothing about them, and they, nothing about me, I was accepted into their group as if I had always belonged. It was an amazing feeling. By my first class, on my first day, I had 9 new friends.
Now, don’t get me wrong: We were anything but close (yet). But I knew them. Not everybody was a total stranger. But the second day is when the major homesickness kicked in. Well, really the night before the second day. I’d met my teachers and made some friends. But I had too much free time on my hands, so that I could think. I missed my Mom and Dad, my friends, my little brother and sister, my older brothers and sister, too. In the boarding school, there was 3 ½ hours of study after school. I wasn’t into sports, so I missed none of it. Obviously, the first day back your not going to get much homework. I had every scrap of it done within about a half an hour. That night, I felt so sick that they moved me to a spare bed closer to our prefects for the next 2 nights.
I got through the rest of the day, with only one other minor breakdown during study. When I came back the next week, I knew how to try and control my feelings, or at least how to push them aside and concentrate on something else.
The day Mom left was the worst by far. It was a Tuesday, so I couldn’t see her off. But by Wednesday I had fallen into a routine, which helped a lot. The school show was coming up, so I threw myself into that, keeping as busy as possible. I also joined the Trad group, orchestra, and choir. So I worked hard and did well in class. When the show came, it was a major success, with the last night almost sold out. I’d made even more friends. I didn’t get how my sister had told me it got better quickly. It took me a solid 2 1/2 months to get over my homesickness. It was still hard to accept that I wouldn’t see any of my family until Christmas. I had the choice to stay home at Christmas if it didn’t get better.
But I guess the leprechauns really worked their magic on me, because I came back. And I’m glad I did, too. I still miss my family and friends, but knowing that I’ll be seeing them soon enough helps. Of coarse, I’ll miss some thing about this green place, too. I’ll miss my friends, for one thing. But I’m sure we’ll keep in touch. In fact, I know we will. I’m really glad I came this year. But I know that when the time comes, I’ll be dying to go home.