Despite having been moved several times, student find ways to fit in

By Susie Chen
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For sophomore Brogan Bunnell, this school -the largest in the state with over 4,000 students- seems exceptionally big, considering she was born in a town of fewer than 2,000 people. “Carmel is the biggest place I’ve ever lived in,” she said via e-mail. “I usually have lived in pretty small towns. Carmel High School is also the biggest high school I’ve ever seen. All of the schools I went to didn’t even have half as many students are there are at Carmel High.”
Bunnell has moved four times to five different cities, including St. George, UT, Granger, IN, Helena, AL, Waxhaw, NC and finally to Carmel. Waxhaw, with a population of only 7,400 people, is the smallest town of the five, while Carmel, with about 68,700 residents, is the largest.

She was born in St. George, UT, which has a population of roughly around 65,000 according to the city’s Web site. She said that not much happened in the city. “There were no real events in St. Granger. But I was pretty little when I lived there, so I don’t remember that much,” she said.

At age 4, Bunnell moved from St. George to Granger, where she resided for a year. From there, she moved to Helena, where she lived for three years, then moved to Waxhaw. Bunnell was 12 when she moved from North Carolina to Carmel.

“I really did not want to move to Carmel in the first place because I loved North Carolina so much,” she said. “But Carmel has a lot more to do. There is something for everyone’s interests. Also, the high school offers a lot more and is more involved with the community and the problems in the world. Carmel is the biggest high school I have ever seen, and it offers more opportunities than I could ever imagine.”

Freshman counselor Leslie Brown said via e-mail that it could sometimes take a while for students moving from smaller towns to adjust to Carmel. “The students certainly have to adjust to the size difference and in many cases, our curriculum is more rigorous than what they are used to. Also, our course offerings are very different because we can offer so much more due to our large size,” she said.

Bunnell said what sets Carmel apart from the other places she has lived in are the events, such as CarmelFest or Seton Fest. “In the other places I lived, there wasn’t anything big like CarmelFest or anything like that. Carmel definitely has the most activities,” she said.

In Helena, which has a population of around 13,000 people, Bunnell said that the most exciting event was the crawfish boil, where big pots of crawfish were cooked for everyone to eat. “I never ate them,” she said. “But my parents did.” However, other than the crawfish boil, Bunnell said there was nothing significant in Helena. “Helena was a really small town. We always had to go to another town to do stuff or to go out to eat,” she said.

The Carolina Renaissance Fair, which is open from October to November, was an event that Bunnell attended in Waxhaw, a city with around 8,000 residents. “(The fair) had activities for the kids, and I remember they had these huge turkey legs for people to eat,” she said. “They also had a lot of booths and shops where you could buy toy swords and little knick-knacks. They mostly just had activities for the kids, and there was a ton of food. The whole thing was basically about the food.” According to the Carolina Renaissance Festival’s Web site, the festival is now one of the largest renaissance festivals in the country.

Of all the cities Bunnell has lived in, she said her best memories are from North Carolina. “Some of my best memories were with my soccer friends. I remember going to Myrtle Beach with my soccer team. We were all so close, so it was really fun. I really miss playing travel soccer. That’s what made moving from North Carolina so hard, because I really loved my soccer team and the area we lived in,” she said.
Because of all the moving around, Bunnell said she has learned how to adapt to new situations and people. “I participate in extra-curricular activities to meet people. Like, I play soccer and have been playing it in each we have lived. At school, I am friendly and try to make as many friends as possible.” Brown said the school supports new students in finding a school activity to participate in. “We try to encourage new students to join a club or activity as soon as possible so that they can begin to feel like they are a part of the school, and they can met new friends,” she said.

Although Carmel is the biggest city Bunnell has lived in, she said that the town retains a small community feel that she likes. “I feel like since I’ve lived in Carmel, everyone knows everyone,” she said. “It has that kind of small-town feeling that I’m used to.”