Imagine seeing that certain someone in the hall. Eyes meet, hearts start pounding, the world stops.

Does this sound familiar? Then you are like one of many BMSers to experience the crush. Here are four
articles about this middle school journey.

What is a Crush?
By Max Kirkorsky

According to Mr. Don Savage, health teacher at BMS, a crush is “usually a butterfly feeling you get when you are around someone.”

Why is that butterfly feeling even called a crush? This reporter’s research found no particular reason why a crush is called a crush; however, as the name implies, it is a crush, and it takes a long journey for someone to go from crush to someone more important. In that process, feelings may get crushed.

Ava Porretta
Why do we have crushes? Why do we care for some people more than others? Why do we feel this way? These are all questions pondering in some people’s minds on why they have crushes.

According to The Debrief, a website on news, we all have crushes due to the limbic part of our brain.
The limbic part of our brain is one of the parts of our brain we share with other animals. This part of our brain is also responsible for basic human functions, such as breathing and keeping our heart beating. This limbic part of our brain just wants dopamine, a chemical in your brain that affects your emotions, movements and your sensations of pleasure and pain.

Dopamine neurotransmitters are located in the deep middle region of your brain called the substantia nigra. Your substantia nigra is a layer of deeply pigmented gray matter situated in the midbrain and containing the cell bodies of a tract of dopamine.

“You are usually between 10 and 12 when you get your first crush, around when you go to middle school,” says Mr. Savage. You get these feelings because of hormones called testosterone and estrogen. Testosterone is a male hormone that results in strong physical and romantic attractions to others. Estrogen does the same, but in females. These hormones are what cause you wanting to date your crush. These hormones are produced in the adrenal glands above the kidney.

How do you know you have a crush on someone? That person usually makes you feel good about yourself, and you like to be around them. There is a hormone called oxytocin, and it is released when you’re around someone that makes you feel good about yourself, according to Mr. Savage.
Oxytocin is released in the pituitary gland, which is a pea sized structure in the base of your brain. It is responsible for social bonds.

“Oxytocin is also what bonds a child with their mom or dad,” says Dr. Cortright. A rule on a farm: never mess with a mama’s cow and her calf. Everytime the mama helps the calf, such as cleaning it, loads of oxytocin are released, so she is very overprotective of her calf.

This is also true for us humans. When a mom’s baby is born, a lot of oxytocin is released, and she is overprotective of her baby. She always wants to be with the baby. So oxytocin is a hormone that is released to connect two people together.

In the end, a crush comes down to a few things. It comes down to how your hormones, mainly testosterone or estrogen, reacts to a certain person.

Listening Helps: Crush Aid
By Jaiyana Khan

If there is a lot of testosterone or estrogen released, then your body will make you have certain attractions to others. If oxytocin is released, it will help to connect the two people, possibly two lovers, closer together. Then, and only then, will you know that you have a crush on someone.

Have you ever had someone confess who their crush is to you? It can be a but nerve racking if you don’t know how to respond or what to do. It’s also a responsibility, because this person trusts you enough to tell you something they don’t want others to know.

But what do you do to help your friend? According to Dr. Kelly Barker, a guidance counselor at Bedford, “The biggest thing you can do as a friend is listen and be an open friend.” Talk to them, and be aware of what they’re asking of you.

Do they want advice, or do they just want someone to listen? If they don’t want to do anything about their crush, don’t push them. You shouldn’t try to force someone to do something they aren’t comfortable with, said Dr. Barker.

If a friend wants to tell someone about a crush, realize this: The idea of confessing to having a crush is frightening. There’s always the fear of rejection lingering in the back of your mind. According to “The Guardian,” people are scared to confess to their crush because they fear that they will get a negative reaction, and be disliked by the person they are confessing to for having feelings for them.

Tell your friend that no matter what reaction they get from their crush, you’ll be there to hear it. This can give them a sense of comfort, and will let them know that they have you to fall back on if things go badly. If they confess to their crush, it can lift a weight off their shoulders. They won’t have to deal with the stress of their crush not being aware of their feelings. Make sure they know this, because it could give them the motivation they need.

According to Mr. Don Savage, a health teacher at BMS, one of the most, if not most important thing for someone to know when interacting with their crush is to be themselves. He said you want your crush to get to know you for who you are, not someone you are pretending to be. If it ever gets to the point of a relationship, and you aren’t being your true self, the truth will come out eventually, so it’s better to start out honest and true to yourself rather than cause issues later.

Overall, the best thing you can do for your friend is to be there for him or her no matter what he or she decides to do, because that’s what friends do.

BMS Crushes
By Rachalle Ubaldo

“Ursus” went out and interviewed students and teachers about their past crushes. It went well, mostly. Some people are too nervous about talking about their old flames, their “first loves.” But others do open up–mostly teachers–because for some students, the crushes are still too close in time and friendships could be affected.

But here’s what we found.

Ms. Sarah Harding, a guidance counselor, had a crush back in sixth grade. “I had my first crush, and it was on my best friend at the time. We were in classes at school and we did ballroom dancing together. We had to dance together! I never told him my crush.” Spoiler alert, this boy was the best man at her wedding.

Okay, but what about a student? Jake Fitzpatrick, an 8th grader in purple pod. He had his first crush back when he was 11 years old in 6th grade. “I felt a bit nervous seeing her around or walking past her in the hallways, since we weren’t really friends.” A few months later, he lost interest because he knew that “she was out of my league.”

Julian Fiore, another eighth grade student in purple pod currently has a crush, but also had a crush right before this current one. He wasn’t really friends with this person, so he didn’t act a certain way. “When I saw her, I felt uncomfortable on the inside but showed confidence on the outside,” he reported. Julian had this crush for about a month, but got over it when gaining attraction for someone else.

Another 8th grader, Thomas Sargent, said that he had his first crush in second grade, and that he wasn’t friends with her because “she was out of my league.” He said, felt, and acted mostly normal; he only thought she was “hot.” A couple months later, he got over it because he wasn’t attracted to her anymore.
The younger grades were less willing to share, but 6th grader Rohan Wadhwani reported never having a crush before. He said this was because he has never found any of the girls in his grade attractive.

Enough of the boys, how about the girls’ crushes? Jaiyana Khan, an 8th grader in the red pod, had a strong crush that lasted from the end of 7th grade until the beginning of 8th grade. “I acted like myself around him, since we were friends, but I felt comfortable around him and enjoyed being with him,” she said. In October, she started having feelings for another person while still having feelings for her original crush. She tried and succeeded in getting over her original crush due to her newly found crush reciprocating the feelings.

For Delaney Moody, an eighth grader in the green pod, her first crush lasted from kindergarten to second grade. When asked about it, she said, “I got over him because I moved away. I was pressured into liking him in the first place, so I thought I liked him when I really didn’t.” So much for long distance relationships.

Overall, crushes are weird and confusing. The 8th graders at Bedford were much more willing to talk about their experiences with crushes than the 6th and 7th graders. This could be because 8th graders just have more experience with the topic, being older.

What about your crush?

My Middle School Crush
By Merel Kanter

Crushes.
Almost everybody has them. From a friend crush, to a ‘like-like’ crush, most people get them. Personally I have had quite a few crushes. Let me tell you all about one of them.

I still remember the first time I saw him–Language Arts, purple pod, first day of school.

I was immediately drawn to him because he seemed like such a nice kid. He wasn’t afraid to talk to a lot of people, constantly making conversation and proving his affability.

I sat there analyzing him, silently hoping he would talk to me. He was well-liked and from what I had observed, he was very sympathetic and caring because he would talk to all the people in the class who seemed not to have many friends.

At the same time he seemed so cool and funny. He just seemed to be confident and comfortable in his own skin. After relentlessly thinking about the kid, I decided to start talking to him to see if we would get along.

I always assumed we would but I was never completely sure, so to confirm that this crush was the real deal, I needed to see how compatible we were.

I can still remember talking to him and feeling like no words would come out. My heart beat would speed up, and I would start rethinking everything I would say. I would think things like, Oh my god, why did I say that, that’s so weird! He must think I’m pathetic. I would never talk to him without planning out our conversation through and through, making sure I got every word right so I could come off as calm and collected.

As time went on, I grew more and more comfortable with him. I started being myself more and realized that we clicked. We got along so well, and we could talk for hours on end. There was no better part to my day than when I was talking to him.

But here’s the thing, crushes come and go. Even if your crush doesn’t ‘like-like’ you back, it’s not the end of the world.

It’s in the fabric of human nature to be drawn to certain people, but they constantly change as you mature. Take me for an example, I had my crush in L.A. but once the bell rang, I was off to science and don’t get me started on my science crush.