I started as a student at Stanley Clark when I was two, and up until sixth grade, I didn't have a ride home at 3:30 p.m. when school got out because my parents worked until 6:00 p.m. I ended up where all kids go when their parents can't pick them up: Extended Day (or, as I said at two years old, 'stended day). I was always the first person there, and the last person picked up, but that was okay because so were Ada and Ellie. I have known them since I was two, and I'm still friends with them. I never thought at the time that I would remember so much about Extended Day, but the smell of pizza and popcorn, the sound of the iron flattening our hot beads, and the excitement of the movie drawer opening are still fresh in my mind. This may not seem significant for many people, but it was where I met so many friends. I was no longer scared to walk through the sea of middle school because I knew the kids' names, and they knew me. I would see older kids at the store, and they would yell, "Hey Erin!" My mom would ask how I knew them, and I would answer with, "They go to Extended Day." 

I have so many memories there: the dance classes, Friday pizza movie days, playing outside, the fun fair, and gym time. I also remember some of the smaller things such as the books, the arts and crafts, the big window that looked out into the gym where you could watch the volleyball and basketball games, the puzzles, the toys, the loft where only three people were allowed, and I could go on and on. I really looked up to the big kids there and would always try to hang out with them, but some of them weren't crazy about spending a lot of time with a four-year-old. When I was younger, we watched a lot of good movies. The older kids always wanted to watch them, which gave me a great way to weasel my way into their conversations. Sometimes I got to select the movie out of the DVD drawer, and we would all watch it on the tube television and eat our snacks. They would always make popcorn on movie Friday, so I would help put the popcorn in cups and coincidentally give the popcorn to the big kids first. I was determined to get on their good side. 

Out of all the movie days, my favorite was when we watched the Princess Diaries. We put the popcorn in the big, plastic, purple cups, sat on the blue leather couch or the ground, and turned off the lights. As a six or seven-year-old, I felt like the coolest person on earth. I was watching a PG movie with eighth graders; I mean, how much cooler can you get when you're in first grade? This memory will stick with me forever. 

I spent so much of my time in Extended Day. I made friends there that I still have today and friends with students that were older than me. I became a more independent person. When I was younger, I watched everyone grow up around me and grew up myself. I was the person the teachers would ask to walk the little kid to the bathroom, and not long ago, I was the kid being walked to the bathroom. 

I don't go to Extended Day anymore, but I will always remember it with so much detail. I hope that kids have the same experience I did because it shaped me into the person I am today. I had big kids to look up to, teachers to take care of me, and friends to last a lifetime.