The beginning of high school and its vastly different environment can bring upon unfamiliar stress to new students. The energy that teachers and students alike bring to school every day completely affects the atmosphere that freshmen are welcomed to, making quarter one the most vital time to ensure a smooth and happy four years.
Once students reach high school, teachers expect them to begin managing their classwork and homework by themselves. While the busy schedule may intimidate freshmen, the work freshmen have received has not seemed to be as overwhelming as they may have believed. Sarah Bouck said that when it comes to students’ classwork and homework, “You kind of ease into it.” To her, even though late work is “…a bigger deal than it was in junior high,” teachers have been forgiving by gradually giving their students more work as the year unfolds.
This ease into high school level work was also noticed by Collin Degraffenreid, who said that “Some days I get homework, some days I don’t.” Teachers giving freshmen time to get used to their new schedules and to navigate the large campus, while still challenging them with homework, is a great way for students to start the school year.
This year, making friends has also been seemingly easy for the class of 2027. Even though student Mia Browne came from a private school with a small class size, she explained that “It’s kind of nice not knowing anybody so I can make a ton of friends,” and has been able to meet new people on campus. She likes the change to public school and found that it helps her socialize.
She also equates her participation in Perry Pom to making friends and said that she has met students from the other grade levels as well as freshmen. She found that the upperclassmen she has met have been generally welcoming towards her, even though the year has just begun.
Sports has been a great way to meet students of different grade levels. Talen Frazier, one of the few freshmen on the varsity football team, noted how his team often invites him to hang out with them, and said “I feel like it’s a family now.” Throughout the first quarter, he noted that, “I made a lot more friends that I didn’t know before this,” and found joining the football team to be a big factor as to why.
Freshman year is a brand new challenge where students begin to gain independence and responsibility. The friendships freshmen have made in school, as well as how quickly they have picked up their schoolwork, have helped make their transition from middle school to high school easier.
