Story Submitted by Emani – Positively Powerstories

Finding True Friends

Hear I go! Good bye California and HELLO Florida. I could not believe I was moving. I used to live with my grandfather who is a doctor in California. I was now moving to live with my mom in Tampa, Florida. I was really excited. I was going to start 4^th grade at Tampa Heights Elementary School. It was really exciting to meet new people and be in a new place. BUT the best thing of all was Dwele. He was my best friend that I met when I lived in California. Dwele moved to Florida a year before me. Guess what school Dwele goes to?! Tampa Heights Elementary! We would be back together again. How cool!

Now my excitement turned to being terrified. When I got to 4^th grade, some of the kids were rude. There were times that kids in my class were not very nice. It was a real bummer because I wanted to keep the excitement I had when I first moved. I made it through 4^th grade. But then came 5^th grade. Everything was different to begin with because of wearing masks and social distancing. But even still, I had more issues with friends. The kids were still rude and not very nice. I really wanted to find some good friends. So I finally did! I met Tessa and Isis. They were so nice and eventually became my best friends. I also had Dwele as a close friend that has known me for years. So three really awesome friends are pretty good!!!!

I made it through 4^th and 5^th grade. Even if ALL the kids were not nice. Even if things were different. I did learn a very important lesson. It is not how many friends you have, it is the quality of friends you have. Tessa, Isis, and Dwele were wonderful to be best friends with. They helped me though my last 2 years in elementary school. Now as I enter middle school, I have a really good lesson that I learned in elementary school: find the right friends.