Growing up Egyptian, the number one lesson I learned was creating a community anywhere I go. My first ever community was my family: my siblings, my parents, my eleven cousins, and four uncles. This big family became my people very quickly. I did everything with them and learned to appreciate every moment and memory. 

As we got older, this big community we created got much smaller. People moved away and there was less time to see each other. I would see my community once or twice a year and things became lonely. I had to adapt to this new normal and create a new community. 

This new community developed when I came to Preuss in 6th grade. From the moment I walked into Preuss, I had this group of 30 people I would see every other day and they would soon become my second family. We slowly grew up with each other from 6th to 12th grade. We witnessed each other change, mature, and bonded over many things. Advisory was the place for me to laugh (and cry) and they felt like a home away from home. The gap created when my first community began to disperse was filled with the community I created at Preuss. 

Coming into my 11th grade year a big change to my community occurred. Our advisory teacher left Preuss and we had to adapt to this new change. In a way, we became even closer because of this new adjustment and environment. The beginning was rough because we had known him for so long, but we healed much quicker because we had each other. 

Even with this big loss, we began to involve ourselves in fun activities at school. We made a big commitment to Penny Wars and even though we lost, the whole experience made us that much closer. Although our punishment was to dance in Airband, we made the experience fun. We learned a dance and went all out during Airband. 

At the end of our seven years together, we created a community that is full of memories and memorable moments that I will never forget. As we transition into this new life, it’s bittersweet because I get to grow and change but I leave these special people. My one piece of advice for incoming 6th graders or any grade is to make those connections with your advisory class because those moments will last forever.