"Good morning June," mom says quietly as she gently shakes my body to wake me up, "it's time to get ready for school."

I sit up with excitement with my eyes wide open.

"I am so glad you are excited, first grade is going to be great!"

I skip to my closet and grab my favorite pink dress. I request extra big pancakes for breakfast with syrup, powdered sugar, and strawberries then grab my bright blue shoes and run to mom's car. For so long I have been awaiting the moment to proudly walk into the doors of my school and start my first day of first grade.

I arrive at Frost Elemtary School. The building is a purplish color with red roof tops and a lot of windows. As mom drives to the roundabout I see a huge playground with lots of slides and swings! There are so many kids outside ranging from ages 5-10 and I think of all the new friends I am going to make! I can't contain my excitement and let out a squeal. I have imagined my first day so many times and it feels great to actually live it. "Bye mom," I say as I scoot out of the car with my lunchbox in my hand.

"Bye honey, have a great day."

"I will," I reply and with that I start my journey to first grade!

I walk up the last few cement steps, push open the heavy doors, and enter the school. I spot the office, bathrooms, the principal, and hundreds of students swarming to find their classrooms.

"Hello," a women says to me, "what's your name?"

"June," I answer.

"What a great name. I am Mrs. Reilly, who is your teacher?" she asks.

"Mrs. Kenny," I answer.

"Okay, her classroom is straight down that hall.

"Thank you." I skip down the hall and Mrs. Kenny greets me at her door. I tell her my name and she tells me to find my desk. It is in the front of the room right next to a girl I don't know. This is my chance to make a new friend!

I walk over to her and shoot her a huge smile. "Hi, my name is June."

"Hi, I am Chloe," she says excitedly and I am so happy that she is as thrilled as I am for the first day of first grade.

"What do you like to do?" I ask her.

"I love to play soccer, write stories, and play with my dog, what about you?"

"I like to draw, play softball, and paint my nails."

"Cool," she says.

"Quiet down everyone," Mrs. Kenny calls, "It's time to start the day." She introduces herself to her new students and then brings us to the gym.

"To begin our day we will be playing "it tag". This is how the game works, everyone is the tagger and you want to tag as many people as you can. If you get out, watch closely because if the person who tagged you gets out then you get to come back into the game! The last person standing wins! Alright, get ready. 3, 2, 1 GO!"

I start running around the gym trying to tag as many people as I can. I see 1, 2, 3, 4 of my classmates already out and I think to myself I might win this game! I feel a rush go through me as I escape from everyone's fingertips. I tag Amy, Elizabeth, Jack, Ben, and Laila like I am plucking flowers from a tree. Then Mrs. Kenny calls my name and I am the winner. I am so happy that I jump up and down, but then it was time to go back to class.

We walk out of the gym in a single file line and when we arrive at the classroom we sit down in our seats.

"I hope you all enjoyed kicking off our day playing "it tag," Mrs. Kenny says, "but now it's time to start the wonders of learning. First, we are going to read my all time favorite story "One Pizza, One Penny" as a class."

"I love stories," I think to myself, "especially when my mother reads them to me at bedtime. It is so fun watching the tale unfold on the page.

"I will start," Mrs. Kenny continues. "On Sunflower Street in Sunnyvillle, Ben Bear lived at number 14 and Chris Croc lived across the way. They were the best of friends. And both were wizards in the kitchen."

Mrs. Kenny picks her head up from the book and passes it to Jake, another student in my class. He reads the next page. The words form at his lips so easily and flow out so smoothly. It's Jane's turn next and she reads with emotion keeping the story interesting. Now it's my turn. She passes me the smooth book and I turn to the correct page. I put my finger on the first line and begin to read. "Chris Croc was a b..b..b baker of hea..heavenly cakes. Eating Cris Crocs cake saw like swishing-"

Mrs. Kenny stopped and corrected me. "This word here is "was," you said "saw."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's alright," she tells me. I barley finish the page and hand it over to Chloe. My checks turn a deep shade of red.

After we finished the book, we reviewed some math skills we learned in Kindergarden. Then we wrote about our summer, had recess, then ate lunch. Mom packed me a ham and cheese sandwich with cheek puffs. Next I had art and ending the day we had another recess. I played on the sea saw with Chloe and flew on the swings with Andrew. Once recess was over we headed inside and grabbed our backpacks from our cubbies. After the bell rang at 3:05, all the students ran to their parents cars to tell them about their awesome first day. I on the other hand walked out of the classroom with my head down. My first day of first grade was not as awesome as I thought it was going to be.

When I exit the school I see mom waiting at the roundabout. I drag myself into the car and push my backpack onto the seat next to me.

"How was your first day of first grade?" mom asked.

"Not that great," I told her.

"Why?"

"Well when we read a story as a class I was the only one who had trouble reading and then in math I kept getting the numbers six and nine wrong so Mrs. Kenny had to help me a lot during class. I was so embarrassed. I am just dumb.

"Oh honey, I am so sorry. I promise you tomorrow will be better and you are not dumb. You just had the best summer so it's taking you a little longer to get back in the grove, that's all!