Back to School Essay Contest Winner Juliet F. - 7th Grade

The Most Important Lesson I Learned in School

by Juliet F.

Mrs. Alford was my fifth-grade teacher.  She is really fun and outgoing, but can also be very strict.  She is different from other teachers because she has lots of different animals in hr classroom.  Her room had two turtles, three hamsters, a rat, and two guinea pigs.  I  hear that she has thirty cats at home!  Some of her pets were very outgoing, and some were lazy.  They were fun to watch. 

I as thrilled when Mrs. Alford announced she was looking for volunteers to watch her pets over the three-week winter break.  Mom and dad gave me permission o watch one, and I was thrilled when Mrs. Alford agreed.  I almost jumped for joy because I was so excited!
         
Mrs. Alford let me watch Peewee the hamster.  Peewee was the oldest pet in the classroom.  He might have been brown at one time, but now he was a light tan with long thin tufts of grey hair.  It reminded me of Yoda.
         
Even though he had lots of tunnels and toys, Peewee only stayed in one part of his cage.  That made things easy, there was only one part of the cage that ever needed cleaning.  I think he slept for 23 hours a day!  He didn’t do very much.  He had an exercise ball, but he just sat in it.  Once, he even fell asleep in it!
         
Mrs. Alford gave me careful, specific instructions on caring for him.  He needed to be fed and watered every day.  I was to clean out his cage (or only the dirty part) every other day.  But, she emphasized that the most important rule was to remember to always latch his cage, then place piece of duct tape over the latch to keep the door to his cage closed.  It seemed silly to worry about latching the door since he didn’t do anything.
         
I took care of Peewee for two weeks.  His favorite teats were carrots.  We liked watching him rearrange his little bed and go to sleep.  It was going very well, but mostly because he didn’t do much.  Mom worried that he wouldn’t live until the day school started up again.
         
One morning after Christmas, I woke up and saw the door was slightly ajar.  To my horror, Peewee was gone!  We have a big German Shepherd dog that was quite a bit confused when we thew her in the garage.   Would hate to think what would have happened if she found Peewee first.  Or maybe Peewee would have eaten her for breakfast. I am not sure.
         
I was so sad.  Would Mrs. Alford think less of me if I lost her hamster?  What if it died?  What would happen then?  These were some of the many questions that were going through my head.  The whole family went on a wild hamster search.  WE looked all over the house, even in the basement.  My sister put treats in front of all the closets.
         
Two hour later we were starting to give up hope.  Maybe Peewee was in the attic chewing up the wiring.  I was the only one left still looking for him.  That’s when I noticed a little bit of chewed up sock on the floor by my bed.  That hadn’t been there before.  I moved it a bit and looked along the wall behind the bed.  There, in the corner, was a little ball of fluff that I realized was Peewee.  He was fast asleep in his little next only about ten feet from his cage!  I got and he gathered Peewee up and put him back in his cage.  We were careful to latch it and tap it.  I didn’t think he ever woke up!
         
We all breathed a huge sigh of relief when school started up the next week.  Peewee was still alive and we brought him back to school the first day of the New Year.  Mrs. Alford asked how it went and I told her it was fun.  I didn’t mention Peewee’s escape.
         
So, in the end, I learned that you always, (ALWAYS!) listen and follow directions when someone who is an expert gives you specific instructions.  I’ll make sure I do that from now on.  Over that break, I got smarter and you could say that Peewee had a big adventure!

Juliet F.
7th Grade