Haha...I sent that message over 2 years ago and you just replied to it now. At first I thought you were messaging me because you were kinda turning into a bad kid toward the end of my last year there and I thought you were gonna say sorry. Hahaha. Anyways, I hope you're doing well man. Whenever I talk to Mr. Beam we still talk about you from time to time.
You know, when I was 13 my family moved to a new city and I was in a new school and it was really hard for me to make friends. Maybe I told you this story already. Anyways, in the beginning I was really weird and awkward. That's a tough age to make new friends, you know? I got bullied sometimes, even though I was a big kid, and nobody wanted to sit next to me at lunch. A group of kids was sometimes nice to me, so I became friends with them. But as the year went on, I realized that the kids who were nice to me were the lowest kids on the totem pole; no one else liked them and everyone made fun of them. So, you know what I did the next year when I came back? I stopped being friends with most of them. I pretended I didn't like them, and I joined the other kids in making fun of them. I did it because I wanted to be accepted by everyone.
I'm 33 years old now, and I still regret that I did that. It turned me into somebody I didn't want to be, and it didn't make me any cooler. It took me 3 or 4 more years until I finally became cool. And you know how I became cool? You know how everyone started to like me and accept me?
I was walking to school during my 11th grade year, and suddenly I realized something: I didn't have to try to be cool anymore. I don't know why, but I realized it. I didn't have to wear certain clothes, talk to certain people, pretend to like certain things. I could wear what I wanted, talk to whoever I wanted to, and like what I liked. After I realized that, I changed. I treated people better. I did what I wanted.
People respect that. They don't respect conformity. Lots of people are too scared to admit it, but it's true: people respect people who aren't slaves. People respect you when you are unique, when you choose to do what you like. I liked making people happy. I liked helping people and trying to accept everyone, regardless of how other people thought.
Anyways, I think at the end of your 7th grade year, maybe you were in a similar situation. You wanted to be cool, so you became kind of a jerk. I don't know if you noticed it, but most people changed their opinion about you. The teachers used to adore you. When I talked to teachers at the end, they were mostly just frustrated with you. The students used to think you were unique and funny. But when I sent you out of class, you know what I saw on their faces? Relief.
The only reason I'm writing this is because I loved your family, and I loved who you used to be. Hopefully someday you come to realize that the 6th grade Ari Mooshyar was awesome, and could've been the coolest kid in school if you'd only let him. Hope you have a great life buddy. If you ever end up in Korea, let me know, me and my wife will take you out to dinner and play pool with you. Best of luck, Mr. H
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