One morning, during my junior year in high school, I was more than an hour late for class.

‘I’m not about to get a tardy slip,’ I said to myself. So I walk to the side entrance, which was usually open, only to find the gate locked.

No problem at all. I just had to climb over.

Little did I know that climbing this gate would be one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

I gave my backpack a healthy hoist, but didn’t put enough muscle into it. So my backpack came speeding down back at me.

That’s when I noticed a group of about 10 students in a parking lot. They were just hanging out, but I was afraid that one of them had een me.

I tried again, but I couldn’t get my backpack to the other side. I felt a little embarrassed.Finally, I got it over the metal fence.

Time to climb.

As I got on the low part of the fence, with my feet in two fence holes, the gate bent inward making my climb a little bit more difficult.

But I continued to strive.

On my way up, I swung my right leg over the top of the fence, but then my left foot lost its grip somehow and my right pant leg got caught on the top.

The group of students began to stare.

‘Oh this is just great,’ I thought to myself.

Now I was nervous.

I finally got myself free. But I couldn’t seem to keep firm footing, and my feet were kicking at this gate in attempts to find two holes.

The stares continued, and I was still struggling.

But I finally got to the top. All I had to do is get to the other side.

Now my shirt got caught.

I already knew it was going to be a long day.

After about five minutes, which seemed more like five hours, I finally got down, with a hole in my pants and my shirt.

Then one girl from the group of students came up to me and jokingly said, ‘You better not ever run away from the police, because you definitely wouldn’t have gotten away.’

“Ha-ha,” I giggled, tired and embarrassed.

That’s nothing when I think about.

Two years ago at CSUN, I was speeding to class on my bike. I was late for class. On my way to Sierra Hall, I start ed to pick up speed.

Standing on my bike, I felt like something was wrong. Something was telling me to slow down.

As I was approaching the bike rack, I realized that it was too late to stop. Then, out of nowhere, I saw a guy pop out.

‘Watch out!’ I thought to myself.

I made a quick move to dodge him, pressed my brakes and flew off my bike face first into the metal bike rack.

It happened so fast. Blood was all over the place. I had a broken nose and fractures right beneath my eye.

I was so happy that only about a dozen people were there. Surprisingly, no one laughed.

But I was so embarrassed and I felt so stupid because I know I could have avoided the whole situation.

So, if you had one or a series of embarrassing moments today, don’t feel too bad.

Embarrassing moments are a part of life, and when you look back and think about them, smile and laugh it off.

That’s always a good thing to do.

Sam Richard can be reached at city@sundial.csun.edu.