• More Than Just a Game

  by Ayah Al-Masyabi

  When I was 5 or 6, I played soccer for the first time. In a school playground, I found a soccer ball lying on a patch of dirt and started kicking it away from me, then running to retrieve it. I thought I was alone, but a few minutes later an older boy with ginger hair walked over and asked if he could play with me.

• Dancing With the Bollywood Stars 

  by Ayush P.

  In the 4th grade, I attended a Bollywood dance class for the first time. My mom had signed me up, and the goal was for me to do something outside of my school and home life. “Physical activity is good for you!

• Don’t Call Me Jeremy Lin

  by Kevin Louie

  My team and I had just arrived at our away game, one of many we played in the New York-New Jersey area. We were in the locker room. “Hurry up and change. Be on the court in five minutes to warm up and stretch,” said our coach.

• MY FIRST TIME: Playing Soccer

  by Farhana Hussain

  In the 6th grade, I was known as the smart girl—the girl who got the highest GPA each semester. I wasn’t content with earning grades lower than 90. My classmates would joke around that I was a workaholic and that even when I got 100 on a test, I’d still try to solve an extra credit problem.

• MY FIRST TIME: On a Roller Coaster

  by David Shin

  My two older sisters love amusement parks. They are thrill-seekers and go on the scariest rides. Every year, my father and I had the job of waiting on the line for them for their next ride or we’d go to the food court.