By Brooklyn, 5^th grade | June 2021 … People are going to come and go as you grow and learn.  

 You don’t have to behave like someone else wants you to, or you don’t always have to be friends with everyone else, and neither do they have to like you. Those are just a couple of things that I’ve learned, and some of those things I’ve learned the hard way. 

Advice that I have for next year’s fifth-grade students is to focus on being you and not trying to be how everyone else wants you to be.  Also try to learn from those around you—sometimes what to do and what not to do. It’s super helpful.  

I also know that being in fifth grade is harder than the grades below, but it gets easier. You have to do the work and all of these things to get what you want out of it.  [It may] be getting on the honor roll, straight As, or improving your grades. Work for it and keep going.  

Also, sometimes things don’t get done or work out like they were supposed to. If you ever get there, just know you’re not alone. I’ve been there so many times, but just pick up the pieces, keep going and do better next time. 

—Brooklyn is a reporter for the William Rowen Healthy Roar