Entering high school for the first time as a freshman can be a nerve-wracking transition, marked by the typical freshman fears: a larger campus, older peers, and a significantly heavier workload. However, the excitement and the newfound sense of independence and freedom come along with high school as well.
Ninth graders have expected South to be very different from the various middle schools they came from: Brownell, Pierce, St. Paul, etc. Students have faced a mix of challenges and fun. By joining clubs, sports, managing their new assignments, and adjusting to a new schedule and environment, freshmen have discovered how to balance the many things high school has to offer.
Freshman Jane Horrocks said she was initially anxious about the transition from middle school to high school regarding the student body, but was pleasantly surprised by her own experience.
“I thought that South would be a lot more intense with all the new people, since it’s such a huge shift from middle school to high school, but it’s actually not at all,” Horrocks said. “I joined the freshman volleyball team, and I really appreciated all the closeness I created with my teammates, some of whom I didn’t go to the same middle school with”.
McCloy Sullivan, another freshman, noted that she expected the workload to be heavier, but that high school had offered different ways to help manage that stress.
“There definitely is a lot more work to catch up with and more tests to study for than middle school,” Sullivan said. “But having a tutorial has helped tremendously with that workload. I like that high school provides them”.
When freshmen come to high school, they may be expected to feel a little out of place, trying to fit in, and they aren’t sure what clubs to join, classes to take, who to ask for help, etc. Kendra Caralis, the Class of 2029 advisor and social studies teacher, offers a wealth of advice for them.
“Teaching freshmen is a different world than teaching upperclassmen,” Caralis said. “You have to set more organizational goals for them; teach them how to advocate for themselves, teach them to learn new academic skills, and they have to realize grades matter much more than they did in middle school now.”
Focusing on finding a good place to fit in as a freshman is important; this includes joining one of South’s many sports programs, clubs, or attending football games and events like Homecoming, and understanding how these can help make the reality of being a freshman enjoyable and set students up for success in their high school years. The student council is a highly recommended club to join for freshmen.
“The size of the school can be a lot at first,” Caralis said. “But it also means to find your people, your group, your spot, and that all makes a difference.”
