In sixth grade, I was the new kid, and I didn't feel like I fit in with all the kids who knew each other so well. Everyone was very welcoming, but I second-guessed myself with every good interaction with a student or teacher. There were people that I wanted to be friends with, but I was scared to reach out. Until the crop project in Social Studies class. I was paired with a girl who is now my best friend. I thank the crop project for our friendship because it was such an open prompt, and we had so much fun doing it. We had to make a film covering the basic facts about a crop, and we were assigned the potato. We needed to film in front of a green screen and edit to tie it together.

I was so excited about writing a script and bonding with my partner. The premise of our skit was that I was a potato farmer kidnapped by a reporter and forced to give potato facts. Mr. Phillip fully accepted our outlandish concept. It took us three days to film, longer than anyone else because we had so much fun. We kept messing up and goofing off, and it was the most comfortable I had felt all year. It also took us two days to edit, and we were working up to the last minute, but it was so worth it. When we presented in front of the class and played our skit on the screen, we almost died laughing. It probably wasn't even that funny in hindsight, but I was so happy with what we had done. I remember going home and telling my parents how fun and exciting the project was. It took off a lot of the pressure because we didn't have to stand in front of a class and read a boring report. The fact that it was high-tech with the green screen and editing also made it so much more dynamic and interesting. I am forever thankful to Mr. Phillip for pairing me with my best friend and giving us a project that challenged us and was fun to do.