Artwork by Regina
August is the month where we all go back to school and experience the thrill or dread of walking onto campus and meeting new people. This ritual can be exciting for some, while others dread the change.
Change is difficult and something we all find hard to adjust to. This especially impacts you if you are new to a school, new to a country or even new to a curriculum. Personally, moving up to high school this year was an immense struggle with fears of not being able to partner up with any of the people in my class; I mean, I knew some students from orchestra, or language classes but they all have their individual cliques. Especially since I was moving from a smaller section of the school, where everyone knew each other and was a tight knit group. Now I don’t even know everyone in my grade. Change is hard, but we have to persevere through it, know that everyone is going through the same thing.
Extra help is provided for new students, through a system of “buddys” - do people still use this term? - in which an experienced student helps guide the new around campus. I’m not sure about you guys, but eventually, the buddy and the guide split up after the first couple of weeks, finding themselves their own group.
But what if both buddies are unfamiliar with their surroundings? We all move up to middle school, and then after those years flash before our eyes, we end up in this big jail, filled with couples, intimidating teachers, with intimidating names, and a maze of a schedule. To make matters worse, haven’t you heard about the nightmares upperclassmen have engraved in our brains? “The workload is crazy, you’re going to have to pull all nighters during freshman year, I’m so tired, I only got 2 hours of sleep last night, this teacher is so strict, I had to write a 30 page essay for homework, I had to do this, I had to do that, blah, blah, blah.”
“Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see” - Edgar Allan Poe
Not going to lie; I heard this, freaked out and when I was studying over the summer and got a question wrong, the fear of failing or drifting behind drowned me. This is the impact people have on you. Now that I have almost finished my first month of high school, the grading systems have changed and I don’t know if I’m on the right track for some of my classes, but remember to ask your teachers or anyone who is willing to help if you’re struggling and it’s all about mindset. You can do this! And no, I didn’t have to write a 30 page essay, in which my design teacher was aware of this rumor and pointed it out.
My only advice to those who are dreading high school is that the beginning can be rough to those who are still trying to figure out where they fit in, but it will work out eventually, don’t worry. As for the work, just try your best in all your classes and if you’re not getting the results you want, ask the teacher on how you can improve - they’re always going to be there for you (even if they can be really intimidating) and it gives you extra credit for wanting to be better. Time management is important for tasks and in high school, there is sooo much more responsibility, so make sure you are organized and prepared to slay your classes!!
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