When I first moved from St. Paul Minnesota to Cannon Falls Minnesota it was a big transition for me. But I enjoy my new house and the people here are great. Where my family used to live was not the best, so we moved to Cannon Falls and quickly made good friends here. But when we first moved to Cannon Falls, I thought I would never see my friends from St. Paul again. But I soon realized that it’s easier than I think to stay in touch with them.

My family has lived in 4 houses during my lifetime so far. The first was a snug little blue house in West St. Paul. but I was too young to remember that house. The second was a 3-story pink house close to the big city. We moved away from that house because our neighbors were actual gang members and there had been some criminal activity going on. My siblings and I were very young then so we moved to our rental house. Our rental was a duplex with an older man maybe in his 40s, with a small yard and some trees. The main reason we left that house was that my parents were tired of spending all the money on the house. They also thought it was time to live their dream of living in a house in the country. I would have agreed with them because I love nature so much and the city makes me feel restricted. But I had some really good friends In St. Paul. I thought that I would never see them again. But we moved anyway. Moving in was pretty easy, we had lots of help from friends. We had a nice 5 acres, which my siblings and I spent a lot of time exploring and building forts on. But the whole time, I had the sinking feeling in my stomach that old friends were going to forget me. I tried to keep my spirits up until the new school year came around. When it did, I wanted to go to public school, but my Mom had me take homeschooling.

While homeschooling, I met some really cool people. We hung out a lot, but it didn’t feel quite like the good old days. I only enjoyed homeschooling because of the extra free time. All my old friends were never available because they were doing school all day. My experience of homeschool was probably one of the worst someone could have. We didn’t do any co-ops, which are when homeschool families get together and learn stuff. I failed Algebra 1 twice because I basically tried to learn it straight out of an old book, with no help from a teacher or anyone. Overall, I think my experience of homeschool was terrible. For 9th grade, my parents finally decided to send me to Cannon Falls High School where I enjoyed their extracurricular activities and friendly people. I joined Band and made friends with some of the low brass kids. I also joined Cross country and met lots of cool people there too. I fit in well to the school and the people welcomed me with open arms. I had so much fun in Cannon falls, I almost forgot about my old friends, which made me feel really guilty. I wasted no time getting ahold of them and planning another get-together.

My old friends and I love to look at Internet memes and play Super Smash Bros. It may seem a bit odd, but that’s how we bond. Every year we have a “Smash fest” which is basically a Super Smash Bros tournament. We chill on the sofa in one of our basements eating junk food and playing video games. But we also use that time to catch up on how each other's lives are going. At my new school, I have fun with new friends, and in the summer I like to hang out with people at the local pool. The main thing that I learned from moving is that I can still keep my old friends, as long as I put the effort into staying in contact with them.

Moving to a different house is always a big transition. But when someone’s leaving friends behind, it’s so much harder. I learned that I can still enjoy my new home while staying connected to old friends. All it takes is making a call. I love Cannon Falls, It’s probably my favorite place on earth.  And I know that I can still hang out with my bros on the couch anytime.