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I

hurried out of the school building, struggling to keep myself from crying. As the only girl from my eighth-grade class attending Bais Bracha High School, I was having a rough time finding my place.

I can be really lively and friendly, but only with people I’m already comfortable with. Making new friends has always been a challenge for me, but until now it hadn’t really been necessary. I had been in the same class, with the same great girls, all through elementary school. I’d gone to day camp with the same friends until sixth grade. When I had got too old for that, I certainly wasn’t going to sleepaway camp. I was lucky to get a job as assistant counselor with my best friend in her mother’s backyard day camp. I can’t say I loved changing over-excited two- and three-year-old boys into bathing suits, but I kept the job for two years. It was worth it to me because I felt comfortable there; I wish I could say the same about high school!

Bais Bracha is the smallest high school in town and it’s very selective, partly because it’s highly academic. I knew a lot of my elementary classmates wouldn’t get accepted; several didn’t even apply. But I had been sure I wouldn’t be the only one to get in!

The day my acceptance letter arrived, I was torn. I wanted to call all my friends to share my good news and find out who else had been accepted, but I held myself back so I wouldn’t hurt people’s feelings if they hadn’t gotten in. I figured the others would call me when they got their letters, but the phone never rang. The next day in school no one said a word about being accepted — so neither did I. A week later Ateres Miriam and Bnos Bina sent out their acceptance letters, and my phone didn’t stop ringing as my friends called to share their news. That was all anyone talked about all week! I finally asked, very quietly, if anyone was going to Bais Bracha. And that’s when I found out that I was alone.

“Please, please can I go to one of the other schools?” I begged my parents.

“Penina, we chose Bais Bracha for a reason. It’s an excellent school with amazing teachers and a phenomenal curriculum — perfect for a top student like you. How can you give up such a special opportunity?” my mother asked.