As summer ends and the new school year kicks off, students have no choice but to start preparing. Seniors are getting prepared for their last year of high school, juniors are heading into the often most stressful year, sophomores are no longer the youngest in school and begin to take more challenging classes and freshman kick off the beginning of their high school career. Each class has their objectives and used the summer to start the school year off on the right foot.
Freshman were able to reduce the anxiety of starting at a new, intimidating school by attending orientation and getting familiar with the building. Orientation enabled students to meet their teachers and find their classes without the chaos of the rest of the students crowding the hallways. “Orientation was a nice way to see where all my classes were, meet my teachers and see friends,” freshman Ethan Goldstein said.
Sophomores seem to have it the easiest. Juniors have to begin thinking about the college process and many started over the summer with ACT and SAT prep classes. They also may have started college visits or at least started research. Seniors have the biggest year ahead of them with the college decision looming in the not too distant future. Some seniors used the summer to get a head start on the long and complex college application process. Others chose to take their ACT or SAT again to give it on last shot.
There were a few must do’s before the school year began, regardless of the year in school. Students got prepared by getting their school supplies. Some shopped for supplies while others looked through what was left from prior years. Regardless of how they got their supplies, they had a single goal of getting organized. From choosing folders by color to reflect each subject, to identifying the perfect pens and pencils to make note taking easier, students spent a lot of time and energy to be successful in the classroom this year.
It can be a challenge for students to get back into the school routine. They have to wake up early, get homework completed and get into their after school activities.
One way students prepared for the change in routine and the need for sleep was going to bed earlier a week or two before school started.
They needed to get their sleep rhythm back into a routine of rising early and earlier to bed than over the summer.
Students also got ready for some of their extracurricular activities all summer long. Student athletes were at the fields conditioning in preparation for the fall season to kick off. “I started going to soccer conditioning all summer but once tryouts and preseason started I had to get used to having a schedule again everyday,” senior Casey Schuler said.
Students taking certain courses had to complete summer work for their classes. Those taking AP Language or AP Literature had summer work and students taking CAPPS, AB Calculus, BC Calculus, or MVC had lengthy summer math packets to complete. “I started my AP Lang summer work a few weeks before school starts. I had to write vocab words on flash cards and annotate different essays. I had to study the flashcards before school started because I had a quiz on the second day of school,” junior Erin Chang said.
