still in middle school.

i turn 22 in a month, but i spend every wednesday and thursday in middle school, walking the halls with 6th, 7th and 8th graders from all walks of life. theres the girl who eats lunch alone. the boy who dropped all his homework all over the ground. the 7th grader who is kissing her "boyfriend".the "popular", beautiful girls who have low self esteem and too much makeup. the 8th grade boys who have acne and big egos. the smart kid. the special education children. the abused. the lonely. the broken.

the halls are filled with so many broken people.

and, i think...the halls of my university arent so different. not really. see, all those middle schoolers?
they grow up to be college students.

i have friends who have never left middle school, not in their hearts. the scars of middle school are still there. the 7th grader who wore too much makeup then still wears it now. except now her boyfriend is an abusive basketball player who only wants to use her. and the lonely, bullied boy has found his calling in philosophy, where he is being overwhelmed with new age ideals that might cure the loneliness for a moment. and those popular girls are still using the people around them, and they still think they rule the world. those 8th grade boys have become football players who date girls while their girlfriend waits for him to call.

maybe we've all never left middle school.

but then i see these amazing kids.
the ones who have big hearts. the girl over there who just helped that kid pick up his homework. the special education classroom where eleven smiling faces greet me every morning. the kid who says "thank you" for help with his homework. i see three or four girls without makeup and giggling together, and i think maybe, just maybe...


these halls hold hope too.