By Sage Klingensmith
Prior to becoming an official high school student, one is typically piled high with knowledge of how upperclassmen act and how they truly despise and push around the freshmen. The incoming freshmen hear how they are often referred to as freshmeat, freshies, and many other monikers that further prove the hatred towards us.
All these forewarnings frightened me to begin high school, but the truth is it really isn’t that way; it’s nothing like it is in the movies. Coming into Garnet Valley High School was like being transferred to a whole new family and having to meet my new parents and siblings. I initially felt completely and utterly lost, wondering where the classrooms are and following the room numbers like a map. The upperclassmen were very sincere and helpful towards us freshmen. While I had been lost as ever on my venture to each different class during the first week of school, I was able to ask many people around the hallway despite the stereotype of the typical upperclassmen trope of “hating freshmen.” However, they always guided me the right way and it spread a very welcoming feeling.
In the middle school, I felt as if we were constantly being told about how much harder the classes were in high school- they were right. As a freshman, I am learning things that I may have briefly touched upon in previous years of schooling, but with much more depth and detail to it. It is extraordinarily difficult to constantly keep up with proper time management. Participating in volleyball, doing homework, and finding time to study is a quite extreme balancing act, and I am always struggling to fit in a time to relieve my stress and do something I love. When I find free time, I tend to draw out designs of homes and renovations that I think would be cool (I watch HGTV a great amount) Overall, from here on out, I learn a little at a time how to survive and make it through this school alive.
TIPS TO SURVIVE FRESHMAN YEAR:
- Try out for a sport
- Join a club
- Communicate with teachers/ friends often, they’re only there to help you
- Dont be afraid of upperclassmen
- Trust yourself about the location of your classroom
- Join the plays
- Maintain time management
- Spend time for yourself
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