Feeling Comfortable

Zeke Silverstein - Prozdor, Grade 8

I believe that all people should be able to feel comfortable in any environment he or she enters. People should be accepted from the beginning and be given the benefit of the doubt. Whenever I go to school, I feel as if I have to be constantly watching my back. I feel that people are out to get me and that I’m in danger of constant humiliation. It’s not a pleasant feeling. Some people are just mean, others do it to make their friends laugh, I don’t know why people tease others, but I know it hurts.

This is why I believe that people should be kind and accepting of others. Be friendly, because I know that when people are mean, I get nervous that other people will join them and begin making fun of me. Sure, I can shrug off a few insults, but it builds up over time, and it’s going to cave in on you. It already has on me. One day, I was being teased and bullied so much that I just broke down and cried in the middle of class. I couldn’t help myself, the tears just kept coming.
But there is a positive side. Even before my first day of Prozdor, I thought it was going to be horrible. My dad was sending me on the Shabbaton and I was going to be so bored for two days. But before I even got on the bus, a girl came up to me and asked me if I wanted to throw my football around with her. This made me feel comfortable because I felt that I had made a friend. As it turned out, that girl ended up being my best and closest friend at Prozdor. In addition to that, I now look forward to and enjoy Prozdor on Sunday mornings instead of thinking about it as a prison.

I guess that I owe it to her for making Prozdor feel like a safe haven for me from my battlefield of a school. I still feel uncomfortable most of the time at school, but I’m working on that, and I’m making more friends. But Prozdor is still the best because of the friends I’ve come to know and the great times we’ve had. I really feel comfortable at Prozdor. It’s a wonderful outlet from the harsh school world.