Yes, that is a picture from "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide." No, my article is not about that television show, though it was one of my favorite shows growing up. Just sit back, shut up, read the article and if you're lucky, we can go to the nearest movie theater and watch "Finding Dory."

Middle school — the time in everyone’s lives where children grow into teenagers and when life begins to unveil its complex nature (or at least to me it is). Growing up, the middle school system in my hometown was slightly different than other school districts: K-six was elementary school and grades seven and eight were middle school. For the purpose of this article, middle school will mean the latter two.

When I entered middle school for the first (and only) time back in 2007, words could not describe how nervous I was. In fact, using “nervous” to describe the situation at the time is an understatement. I was apprehensive, terrified and scared out of my little 12-year-old mind. Don’t get me wrong, I still went to school. I mean, you really don’t have a choice when your mom wakes you up at 6:30 a.m. every weekday morning with chocolate milk (good cop) and then threatening to pour a bucket of water on you if you don’t get up (bad cop). I know what you’re thinking— I should have never let my mom watch "Hannah Montana" with me (yes, I watched it. It was a good show. Don’t judge me). Anyways, the first few days of middle school were definitely hard on me. The teachers were tougher, the content was more rigorous and the school lunches’ quality paled in comparison to my elementary school’s lunches. Also, so many seventh graders were already friends with each other prior to kicking off the new school year, thus fitting in became hard. However, I grew very fond of my teachers and utilized the work ethic my mom beat into me (figuratively, not literally), to end my year with straight A's. Most importantly, I made a lot of new friends from both the seventh and eighth grade classes. I became involved in a lot of activities in and out of school such as middle school band (I was one stud of a saxophone player), soccer, enrichment programs, etc. Visiting Camp Ockanickon and Medieval Times for our seventh grade class trips were highlights of my year, as I broke out of my cocoon into a beautiful butterfly. To this day, it was one of the best years of my life.

I know what you’re thinking: “This doesn’t sound complex at all. Kaushik middle-schooled the **** out of middle school.” Alas, that was seventh grade. At the time, I had no idea that my life would change drastically during eighth grade, and I was in for a rude awakening.

On the contrary, eighth grade began pretty well. I decided to sack up and try out for the boys middle school soccer team, where I ended up making the team and having a fairly successful season on the team and on an individual basis. Aside from that, my utopia that was middle school began to collapse and, like Atlantis, had sunk to the deepest point in the ocean. My straight A record was over after receiving a B in algebra class, and in hindsight, it signaled the beginning of an unpleasant eighth grade experience. Certain people began to bully me, teasing me about my interests, my extensive writing, not having a girlfriend, etc. I generally became ostracized for speaking my mind or for exhibiting my academic prowess by my peers. People who I thought were my friends began to turn on me because I simply did not have the same interests as they did. I was constantly bullied for my skinny physique, with awful tags such as “anorexic,” “malnourished” and “toothpick” being hurled at me. On a couple of occasions outside of school, I was the subject of verbally racial and religious abuse. To top off the turbulence, I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and constantly felt like there was something wrong with me. With all the occurrences I have mentioned, I was worn down to the point I began doing things that were unbefitting of a promising student-athlete. I fixated on getting other people to like me, neglected prioritizing my studies, flirting with girls and making them uncomfortable and worst of all, instigating a number of unnecessary conflicts. Don’t get me wrong— I didn’t resort to drugs or alcohol. Heck, I was only 13 or 14 years old and didn’t have the means, nor the desire, to engage in such tomfoolery at the time. Regardless, the entire experience was painful and depressing. Eighth grade drove me to my breaking point.

I may have lost a lot of friends that year, but I lost two things that are hard to regain: my honor and self-respect. However, like all tunnels, there is light at the end. To make a long story short, I learned the error of my ways, apologized to those I may have wronged, began living life on my terms and mine alone and ended up having a fairly successful high school experience. I’m still a kid at heart, yet now I am more mature than the middle-school me and to this day, I am living life on my own terms. And I couldn’t be any more proud and fulfilled as well as happy with how my life has turned out.

My advice to all teenagers out there is the following: do not worry about your status in middle school or high school. People come and go, and not everyone will conform to your ideals and beliefs, but you will ultimately know who has a place in your life going forward. As for grades, you don’t have to go berserk for the 4.0, but do the best you can to set a good foundation for yourself going forward. Ultimately, live life on your own terms rather than for the sake of pleasing others. Embrace who you are, learn to love yourself and make the best decisions possible. Life isn’t perfect, but it’s full of limitless possibilities that can shape you into the “best you” there is. I know I sound like one of those hired, motivational speakers but it’s the truth. Middle-school Kaushik was insecure and did not fully embrace himself, but present-day Kaushik is happy to say he loves who he is and is as secure as an impregnable fortress.