Friday, August 12 If I said I was surprised at the news about the contest, I’d probably be lying. Someone would have had to come up with something really good to beat my team’s invention. A few other homeschooled friends and I worked together to create a facemask that removes almost all pollutants and airborne pathogens. We never got to assembling it, but we had all the blueprints laid out. Still, it’s rather shocking to know that I’ll be attending a new school all the way in Colorado next year. I’m excited, but also nervous. All my teammates turned down the offer, but my mom convinced me to accept. “It’ll be a fresh start,” she said, “I’m sure you’ll make new friends. Plenty of them. Besides, you do need to get out more often. This is the perfect chance.” She’s probably right about my needing to get out more. I don’t leave the house often, and I’ve been doing so less and less as my vision has started to fade. Oh well. At least I’ll be able to take this book with me when I go. We’re given school-issued supplies, but I think I should be okay with bringing my journal along. It’ll help, I think, to have at least one part of my routine stay the same when everything else inevitably shifts. - Conrad Leitner Monday, August 22 I write this from the plane that will take me to Colorado. It’s a strange experience, being so high up. I stared out the window until the clouds blocked the ground from view. After that, I was forced to turn my attention to the only other person on the flight with me. A boy, my age. He hadn’t said anything yet, but I think he was looking at me. I turned my head in an attempt to get him into my periphery to see beyond the blind spot in the middle of my vision. Evidently, he noticed. “Why’re you looking at the baggage compartment?” I jolted a little, but wasn’t really surprised. It’s not the first time that’s happened. And I had a response ready, just in case. “I thought I saw something,” I told him, putting his head into my blind spot. The boy cocked his head inquisitively. At least, I think that’s what he did. I’m still not sure, but it seems like the most likely option. “Huh. There’s nothing there, in case you’re wondering. I’m Andrew, by the way.” I smiled. People usually do that when introducing themselves, I think. “Conrad. It’s nice to meet you.” That was all. Afterwards, he just sat there, doing something that my failing eyes couldn’t see. He’s still doing it. As long as he’s not bothering me, I’m fine. The captain says that we’ll arrive in Denver in another three hours. I think I’ll just try to sleep. I didn’t get much rest last night - Conrad Leitner Monday, August 22 (Later) The last few hours have been quite overwhelming. In short, the plane landed safely, and I waited in the airport with Andrew for a while before a bus arrived to take us to the school. We were joined by a few more people, but I was spared the necessity of interacting with them since I chose a seat at the back of the bus, near a window in the corner. The ride lasted almost an hour, though I didn’t get any rest since the roads were very bumpy towards the end of the trip. However, when we did arrive at the school, things took a strange turn. It seemed that the main building was built in the Victorian era while all the others bear the marks of being constructed only recently. Amid this clash of times, I found myself lost on more than one occasion, partially because the text on the maps we were given was very, very small. Eventually, I found my way to the room that would be mine for the next year and possibly for years to come. Sparsely furnished, it sat on the second floor of the boy’s wing of the dormitories. There was a small balcony leading out to a view of the campus, but it was so cold that I came back into my room almost immediately. I am definitely not ready for Colorado weather. By the time I finished unpacking my few belongings from home, people were chatting outside. I could hear them through the door, and they clearly weren’t going to stop anytime in the near future. I opened and closed my door sharply in an attempt to let them know that their conversation wasn’t welcome, but to no avail. I sat down, and then began to write this. Dinner is in about half an hour, and I’m honestly a bit nervous about it. I’m not exactly the most social person, and this will probably be full of overused icebreakers and the like. - Conrad Leitner Tuesday, August 23 Meeting people wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, although I admit that I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the evening. I think the primary reason that people were nice to me and other strangers they had never met was because they had no reason to dislike them. I did notice that one girl stood apart from the rest, almost seeming to repel others, though I never got close enough to find out why. I did make an acquaintance at dinner, however. A middle-eastern girl, about my age. She introduced herself as Aysel and seemed pretty nice, albeit-
- a little shy. The icebreaker we had to do together was fairly simple and definitely overused. We were given a list of questions and told to ask each other. At the end of five minutes, we were told to present about each other. She did end up sitting with me at the meal. We didn’t really have much to say, but she was definitely seemed like someone I could be friends with eventually. After dinner, I was exhausted. Being forced to socialize took a real toll on my energy. I returned to my room and immediately fell asleep on my bed. I write this at about six in the morning to make sure that I don’t forget about it later. The sun has risen and everything in the room seems to be glowing gold. I think I’ll go down to breakfast early to make sure that I get my schedule and find my classrooms as quickly as possible. - Conrad Leitner
