Introduction

Dan Santiago was born July 17th 1996. A baby who grew day by day into a small boy who had no experience in the world. He had no clue what to expect, he had no clue what was coming, he had no idea that the years after he turned 4 were going to be the framework of the person he is going to be for the rest of his life. He didn't know it yet, but Dan Santiago was the Boy Who Could.

Chapter 1

Hooray for Pre K

When Dan was 4 he was entering the stage where he must attend Preschool. He had only his mother and family who he saw day in and day out so the idea of him being left alone with total strangers wasn't comforting. Though Dan was not aware of what Preschool had to offer, he was enthused about going to a place where other children would be. Considering Dan was a very outgoing child, he always wanted to be surrounded by new peers. Next thing you know, mama Santiago was dropping him off at the doors of Robert Davidson Pre K Center.

Kids all around laughing and running, Dan felt like he was not afraid but even further interested. He quickly adjusted to the Preschool environment and progressively became aware of the "sharing is caring" rule. Dan enjoyed sharing with others whether it be food, space on the floor during story time, or classroom toys. Not only did Dan love his classroom and his peers, but he also loved his super helpful and caring teacher Ms. Lobertson who taught him these great values and morals.

Even though Preschool was a very exciting time for Dan, he ran into his first embarrassing moment when it was his turn to count up to 10 and he forgot 6 and 9. He felt like his friends in class would make fun of him and call him mean names. Dan got through that stage and started to realize feeling embarrassed is a natural feeling and noticed that all his friends get that way sometimes. All of a sudden Preschool seemed like some of the best and care free years of his young life.

Chapter 2

Kindergarten- 3rd Grade

While Preschool was the highlight of Dan's young days, he soon had to move on to his next learning environment, Centennial Elementary School. Centennial was a Kindergarten through 3rd grade institution and for some reason Dan could not shake this nervous weird feeling he had. Centennial was only a 5 minute walk from his home but that didn't make him feel anymore relaxed.

The nervous feeling Dan was getting was because of being around different grade levels and having to be around bigger kids. For Dan this made coming to school everyday nerve racking. Though he adjusted through the years to come after that until he himself was a 3rd grader at the school. Now that he was in 3rd grade he gained the knowledge and confidence to be a student around peers of different sizes and ages.

Dan specifically remembers the day his teacher introduced them to art class in 3rd grade. He felt free to express himself and that there was no limits to his creativity. Mrs. Berger was Dan's favorite teacher because she always gave him the power and show him how to express himself in ways he never knew before. Centennial School was just down the street from Dan's house, so even after he left, he got to relive memories there as often as he wanted.

Chapter 3

4th - 5th Grade

The next big step for Dan was for the first time ever, taking a huge yellow bus with a bunch of other students as he entered his 4th grade year at High Point Elementary School. Taking a bus to school for the first time was a very exciting step for Dan because mama Santiago always drove him to school, or he walked.

As soon as Dan walked through the doors of high point for the first time being a 4th grader, he wasn't nervous, or happy, he felt like it wasn't a big change from before and that he had a lot of the same friends around from his previous school. All that was on Dan's mind was is that they no longer get recess, and instead they get a homeroom.

During his first year at High Point, Dan found his favorite teacher Mrs. Rein. She was different from all the other teachers because she NEVER raised her voice, nor did she ever show any signs of anger or frustration. Even when Dan decided it would be a good idea to ride his skate board through the room during show and tell, she still talked to him in a calm manner. Dan felt very comfortable talking to Mrs. Rein about anything he had on his mind.

One day Dan was in lunch and there was one last homemade rice crispy treat and the lunch lady was going to give it to the most respectful person at the table. While the other kids said how much they"wanted it" and that she should "give it to them because they are "better", she walked over to Dan and he said, "excuse me, would it be okay if I could have the last rice crispy treat please?". The lunch lady looked at him and smiled and gave it too him seeing fit that he deserved it. From that day on Dan knew that being polite will always get him farther in life than being disrespectful or rude.

While the year went good, he started his 5th grade year making a lot of new friends and starting to find his likes and dislikes. He specifically remembers Art Class being one of his favorites until he ran across the 5th grade Art teacher in which he did not like. At the time Dan still wanted to freely express himself and the art teacher told him to "grow up" and "act his age" when he drew a man riding a lion hunting deer in the forest. He told Dan that it wasn't Art and that it was just a "scribbley mess". From that point on Dan didn't really take a liking to the art subject because of his 5th grade art teachers remarks.

Chapter 4

6th - 8th Grade

Having gained an good amount of school experience, Dan thought that Junior High would not be any different then his previous elementary days. Boy was he wrong. Who would have known that girls actually could be so touchy and flirty. His mother always told him girls are a distraction and Dan now knew why. Nonetheless Dan walked into his classes the first day with a positive mindset that he could do anything. He was ready for Orland Junior High and it was ready for him.

One of the most exciting things for Dan was the fact that for the first time he would have a different teacher for every subject. He would be in a new classroom with different kids in there each time which was exciting for him. A lesson Dan had to learn real quick was how to prioritize and organize his subjects considering he was vising 7 different classes in a day.