It’s 8 AM at LMP? Do you know how you got here?

You stroll through the halls at LMP eager to get to class on time, when your eye catches a glimpse of a college flag. You see that it is one for the University of Maryland. It feels as if a worker in your brain is reminded of a task he had forgotten to do, so he pulls an old file from his cabinet and begins to read the notes he stored away long ago. You recall the home you grew up in, the birthdays you celebrated, the good times along with the bad ones. It all seems like a dusty notebook even though it some of the notes are only two years old. You remember the day your parents told you they were selling the house and moving to Florida. It was, surprisingly, a sense of relief that you felt.

The sound of a familiar voice reminds you that it is already 8:01 and you are late for class. You stop reading and store your notes away for another time. Your lesson today in statistics is about probability and you wonder what the odds are that you will need to you use this in real life. Considering that you want to become an engineer, you guess 50/50.

The period is over and, carefully, you tread into the middle school hallway. You wonder how such little people can manage to take up so much room. This must be what a Bolivian honeybee’s nest must be like you conclude. Alas, you take your seat in the hallway and get to work. A group walks by: two parents and a kid that looks a few years younger than yourself. You begin to dust off your notes again and read about the first day you saw wear you are sitting right now. You remember liking what you saw and how you felt. You decided to come here over the public school in the hopes that you would fit in for once.

A few classes later and it is now 1:00. Time for lunch! In the café, you say to the lady behind the counter, “Two pieces of pepperoni, please.”

She responds, “I’m sorry, but we run out.” You sigh in a disappointment, and sincerely hope there are still sandwiches left.

You sit down with your friends who are all eating delicious pizza and watching Internet videos on their phones. You find some more files and begin to recall the time you first met them. A strange group you thought, but they soon grew on you.

School is almost over for the day; you decide to leave a little early since your last period is study hall. You walk outside and look at your watch. It’s 3:00 at LMP, and you know exactly how you got here.