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The Providential

The Providential

The Providential

The Freshman Experience

Hey, fellow freshmen! How’s your year been so far? The year is almost half over and it feels like only a week’s gone by. As the time winds down, there’s a lot to talk about. In a new school, with new classes, teachers, friends, and obstacles to tackle, there’s a lot on all of our minds! With all the new, exciting opportunities now available to us (clubs, sports, longer lunches, countless electives, new courses, and more) it can become increasingly difficult to know how to balance activities. For example, being in too many clubs or doing a sport with numerous or lengthy practices can end up interfering with school work and academics. At the same time, you don’t want to shy away from all these chances for fear of not being able to handle it. Another big worry for many freshmen is the social scene. Of course, we’ve got our friends from middle school and before, but what about new ones? All of this, and more, will be discussed below.

Going into high school, a major concern of many kids is having a good social life. Not surprisingly, friends can actually make a significant difference in your high school experience. Even scientists say that there are key benefits to friendship.  Schoolwork is a very common source of stress for students, and the easiest way to relieve it (besides being prepared and organized!) is to do enjoyable things. An easy way to address stress, therefore, would be to spend time with a friend or a group of friends. Just having a friend to give you advice is extremely important, because our peers’ experiences are more similar to ours. One of the most important ways friendship affects high schoolers, is by boosting our self-esteem and confidence. Having good friends to support you can hopefully help you in dealing with tough issues that come up in life, like bullying.

If you’re worried about making new friends, don’t be! Being yourself is key! Going out of your way to impress others is a waste of time and energy. You always want to convey a realistic and honest image of yourself. Plus, being someone else gets flat-out tiring very quickly. Try to get to know people in your classes, on the same sports team, or in the same clubs as you. This way, you’re interacting with someone you already know you have something in common with.

One last thing to talk about is how to deal with those little things that come up on a daily basis, whether it is a good, or not so good, thing. Let’s discuss some of the more common ones. An opportunity that is being taken advantage more often than not by other freshmen is the longer lunch period. I personally love going to the library during lunch because I do tennis, and some days after practice or a game I feel too tired or simply unwilling to even set eyes on schoolwork. Anyway, I recommend using any free time left over after you finish lunch to finish as much work as possible in the library. Because we all have varied lunch schedules now, it’ll be harder to work on group projects with your entire group, so if it’s difficult for you to coordinate with your group members focus on independent homework instead. Don’t rush to the books, but at the same time, you don’t want to waste time just chatting the period away with your friends. Feeling alone? Ask some friends if they want to tag along. If they refuse or suggest that you stay back, don’t be afraid to go yourself– plenty of other kids will be at the library already.

A downside to high school lunch is the timing – I have 7th period lunch, and let me tell you, it has not been great! We should give ourselves a little while to get used to the new schedule, as even the earliest possible lunch this year, 5th period, is later than middle school’s 11:10. However, if you find that you’re not adjusting as quickly as you wish you would, bring a little snack in a Ziploc bag. It seems like a no-brainer, but a good amount of freshmen have been complaining about a lack of food. This is probably because it’s hard to remember to bring some every day. If you’re having trouble with this, ask one of your parents if they can remind you or pack it for you until you can. If you bring your lunch to school from home, have them put it in your lunch box. Also, the only place you’re really allowed to eat in school besides lunch and the cafeteria is the hallway, so make your snack as mess-free as possible.

Overall, I’d say that freshman year hasn’t been too bad. Obviously, it’s only the start of a long four years, but I’ve learned enough to know that the keys to success here at our high school are time management, organization, and planning. As long as you get all your work done and space it out so you can balance academics with family and friends, it’ll be a happy, safe, and fun school year.

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The Freshman Experience