12-Year-Old Brandon’s Journal — Entry 1 — 9/9/1992

My mom has been cleaning out her house because she's getting ready to move, so I've been getting a lot of my old stuff sent to me. One of those things is my journal from 7th grade.

So if you want to step into the mind of 12-year-old Brandon, here you go. But realize this isn't unfiltered, because it was for school, and I knew it was going to be read by the teacher.

Dear Journal,

I am 12 years old and my name is Brandon Coates. Today we already have field day. It's only the fourth day of school. I am only in class for a half an hour today, usually it's forty-five minutes, or around there. Tonight I am going to the Clackamas varsity football game. My sister is a JV cheerleader, but still helps cheer at the varsity games. Yesterday my schedule was changed. I got band now instead of the two art classes I signed up for. Next semester I get computers and shop for my electives. My math teacher is Mr. Popp. Math is after two periods of Core, and then I come back to Core for one period. Then we go to lunch and back to Core for fifth period.

Choppy, right? Well, it definitely changes throughout the year. Here are some of the things that pop up for 7th grade Brandon.

• A birthday party that wasn't really a party
• Lots of sports talk
• My parents leaving on vacation
• And probably the biggest event, my uncle passing away and me really experiencing death for the first time