Anxiously walking through the big blue doors on Aug. 31, freshmen got ready to start their high school journey, not knowing what to expect with an all-new building. But later this school year, on Jan. 30, they walked into the building with a new-found confidence. They may have an all-new schedule with different teachers and classmates, but freshmen feel ready to face the second semester and any challenges up ahead.
Now in the second half of ninth grade, freshmen are adjusting to the different environment, changed expectations, increased workload and unique opportunities that high school provides.
Freshmen may have felt unprepared for their first semester of ninth grade, particularly regarding the amount of work they would receive. “I knew [high school] was going to be different [from middle school], but the workload was a lot more. They told us they would prepare us for high school, but I don’t think they did,” freshman Saya Kalaria said. “I had trouble adjusting and balancing out all of my work and tests.”
Freshman Catherine Levy agrees with this sentiment about not knowing what to expect entering high school. “The first quarter was really overwhelming,” Levy said. “In semester one, I was overwhelmed with the workload because I procrastinated a lot.”
However, transitioning into semester two, freshmen have a more positive outlook on high school, feeling more comfortable with their classes, peers and teachers. “I feel more excited than before because I got to know a lot of my peers and teachers that have really helped me through school so far,” freshman Chloe Yeh said.
Semester two also brings new extracurricular opportunities for freshmen looking to get involved in the school community outside of simply academics. “There are definitely more competitions and extracurriculars are much more filled with activities,” freshman Daniela Naaman said.
In terms of athletics, freshmen on school sports teams have become more comfortable in the second semester. Yeh, for instance, was a member of the indoor track team and is currently a member of the outdoor track team. “I feel more confident because I got to know my teammates more. Every day at practice is a blast,” Yeh said.
Most importantly, freshmen have polished their study habits, which will prepare them for success throughout their high school career. “It is easier for me to balance things out now that I am adjusted better,” Kalaria said. “I think I know what to do and what things work for me now.”
In contrast to her procrastination earlier in the school year, Levy has solidified her study plan and ensures she starts assignments early and finishes them by the date they’re due. “So far, in semester two, I take care of work as soon as I get it, and I’m no longer stressed with anything,” Levy said.
Kalaria also developed effective study methods to help her perform better in the second semester and the rest of high school. “I learned what study techniques work for me better over time, and I’ve started procrastinating less,” Kalaria said.
In addition, freshmen becoming more familiar with their course material and how classes are taught at the school has made their second-semester experience less stressful. “School has gotten a little bit easier now that I am familiar with the school and curriculum,” Yeh said.
However, the second semester has its challenges. The new schedules students receive after semester one came as a sudden change for freshmen. “Something that surprised me in semester two was that we changed our schedule, our teachers changed and we have new classmates,” Yeh said.
This switch made freshmen’s transition to the second semester more difficult, particularly due to the new expectations and rules that come with new classes. “The expectations of my new teachers are so different compared to my old ones,” Levy said. For example, the “workload, how they teach, like whether they separate kids into groups or lecture, and how they expect students to act, like whether it’s OK to listen to music.”
While they acknowledged that it was sudden and drastic, freshmen like Naaman enjoyed the change as they did not like their semester one schedule as much. “I like my semester two schedule because the order of classes that I have is nicer [even though] it changed kind of last minute and I was not expecting some of the teachers and things that I’d have,” Naaman said.
