COMMENTARY
Transfer student picks up pidgin, feels at home

By Oliver Howells

But that doesn't mean it isn't fun.

I'm talking from a background of home school, private school, charter school and public school, from Utah to Europe to Colorado and now Hawai'i.

The best thing about changing situations is you get to see new things and meet new people.

Granted, leaving friends is painful, and it hurts to feel out of place when you first come to a new school and haven't had time to find your groove.

But basically, you can plunk the changes associated with transferring from one school to another in two piles.

In one pile, there are the changes that happen immediately; in the other, the changes that happen progressively.

My immediate changes were made because of a job opportunity for my dad. I was uprooted and plunked down far away from everything I knew when I was swept from Colorado to Hawai'i.

I jumped from being a "Mainlander" to to being something called a "haole" at school on the North Shore. I was 14 when I moved here and finished eighth grade at Kahuku.

My friends were an ocean away, which at the time seemed as close as the next planet. Once I was here, I didn't know anyone. The fact that half of the kids at school spoke a different language called "pidgin" didn't help me fit in any faster.

My white skin defined me as different and set me apart from the locals.

I guess there's three piles, the last being the bright side. I got the hang of public school and fell into place. I began to understand what people mean when they are talking in pidgin, even if I can't speak it.

I feel at home.

Joining the cross-country team helped me establish my interests and gave me something about which to write my old friends back home. It also helped me find plenty of new friends to hang out with.

Classes are different than Mainland classes, but as I look back, it is not so different than starting a new year at high school.

Getting over the differences and taking them in my stride helped me as a person.

When it got hard, I was homesick for the way everything was before I moved. But eventually you learn to enjoy and accept the good parts about your new surroundings. That's what made it all work for me.

With this school change and three other new-school situations, a cycle always occurred: lose friends, adjust, and eventually find more friends.

That is what a transfer seems to revolve around.

The teachers and class assignments are pretty much the same, even if the classroom is totally different. The experience can be good or bad.

It all depends on you.

Oliver Howells is a senior at Kahuku High. This commentary is a chance for teens to speak out about issues, trends, pressures and perceptions teens deal with each day.

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