One Step At A Time

Throughout my life as a 17 year old, there have been many experiences similar to the main character's situations in the texts we read in class. It specifically relates to Hamlet's hardship of coping with a sense of betrayal surrounding the death of his father. Following the tragic loss of his father, Hamlet began to view the world differently to a point where he no longer had no self-control of his actions. I have also experienced a similar situation in which I felt a sense of betrayal which affected my actions, along with my outlook on life. And I realized not only later, that the problem causing my negative emotions was not as bad as I thought.

Instead of it being caused by the death of a family member in Hamlet, it was caused by a loss of friendship in the 4th grade. It happened on a bright summer day a week before school was about to end. My friends and I were playing soccer outside at recess when the bell rang to go back inside. I was casually walking and talking with my friend when we were heading to the door to line up, but I noticed he had a depressed look on his face. I remember a tear running down his face. When we were at a stop, I touched his shoulder and asked him: “What’s the matter?” He replied with: “I don’t know how to say this, but I’m not coming back next year… I’m… moving away...” When I heard him say that, I was lost in words. I didn’t cry, but my emotions took over and started to sense feelings of anger because I wish he could’ve told me earlier. However, I was able to control my emotions and move on. He gave me his favorite soccer ball we used to play with at recess. We spent nearly everyday in the summer together before he moved away, but that didn’t make a difference. I became a completely different person who just lost his best friend. The first month of school was a tough one. I didn’t talk to anybody and my grades were dropping significantly. However, after about a month of grieving, I finally decided that I had to move on and develop new relationships. In the 5th grade, I made twice as many friends as I did the previous year.

The friendship meant the world to me, as I was friends with this person ever since kindergarten and when I heard the bad news that he was moving away, I was devastated. Our bond was as strong as my relationship with my family. I remember me feeling senses of betrayal because of this and I later realized that it was simply disappointment. Betrayal and disappointment are two very different terms, but I was clueless at the time. When relating to Hamlet’s situation, it was not as severe but uses the same context. We both felt a sense of betrayal due to a damaged relationship; however, Hamlet’s solution was death and mine was to move on and develop new friendships.