Intimidated, anxious, jumpy, but ready for something new. That was me on the first day of high school, the day before that, the week before that, and even a month before that.
But what would high school really be like? Would it be the clichéd freshman-gets-beaten-down-by- the-seniors kind of thing? Or would it be more of a nerdy-kid-gets-bullied-by-the-popular- kids kind of thing?
It turns out, none of those things are all that common.
To be honest, I liked the majority of middle school, and I especially liked being the “top dogs” for the final year. Going from the very top to being the babies of a new school was definitely not enticing. Furthermore, I wasn’t sure how I felt about having classes with students in different grades from me. And the fact that I had little familiarity with the building? Pshh, please -- I was not here for it. I don’t know if you can tell … but I was not looking forward to starting high school. At all. I guess you could say I expected the worst.
But wow, was I wrong. This year was a very, very good start to high school life. All of my teachers were supportive and friendly this year (especially during distance learning!). Being in classes with upperclassmen proved to be better than I thought; I had the opportunity to make new friends, learn how they see things -- new perspectives are always useful -- and sometimes they even made the classes more exciting.
As for the workload, all I can say is this: it could have been better, but it definitely could have been worse. But now, I’m okay with that. This is high school after all -- not a walk in the park. I have learned to work hard, persevere, and put up with more difficult days, in hopes of becoming a better student and person.
Of course, this year took an unexpected turn with COVID-19. Moving to online learning was hard. Well, the workload actually got lighter, because we didn’t have as much after-school-hours work; we would simply have to finish all the classwork assigned in the morning by tomorrow. Still, for many of us, it felt as though the workload got heavier because we were often unproductive and became lazy. Understandably so -- being at home for so long is so difficult. We resorted to the comfort of technology to stay connected with one another, but we also would spend hours on end glued to our devices.
"This is high school after all -- not a walk in the park. I have learned to work hard, persevere, and put up with more difficult days, in hopes of becoming a better student and person."
I recognize that this time has been increasingly challenging to keep up with, and I don’t believe that this situation is unique to me. However, I’m forever grateful for the effort that our teachers, administrators, and Board of Education members have put in to make the transition to online learning as seamless as possible. Though I am sad that I can not say goodbye to my friends and teachers in person, I loved this year, and I am looking forward to the even greater memories that sophomore year will bring.