High school is an adjustment for any student; every person is trying to discover who they are in a not so forgiving climate. We interviewed a few freshmen and asked some questions about how they’ve been acclimating themselves to the new atmosphere.

It’s hard to transition from eighth grade to high school. Freshman Emilia Caruso said “Um, I don’t think eighth grade prepared me for high school at all. We were virtual for a lot of the time and I think that really wasn’t helpful because the teachers had to make their lessons easier so the kids who were at home and in school would each understand the material.”

Eva Sabbagh, said, “High school was a lot harder than eighth grade because it was just really hard to learn from home and there are a lot of students struggling to get back into old routines.”

Later in the same interview with Emilia, she said “I think high school is definitely a big step up from what we’re used to, you know, there’s a lot of homework, a lot of late nights to finish it, the work is definitely more challenging, but after your first marking period, you for sure get used to how everything is run and stuff like that.”

High school is a struggle for everyone and in the midst of the pandemic, COVID-19, it is even more of a challenge.

In another interview, we asked freshman Cassandra Rietema “How has the workload been for you? How have you managed it?” she responded with “There’s definitely a lot of homework. There is some work easier than the next amount, but overall, it is such an unpredictable chunk taken out of your life, not knowing how much you will get or how hard it will be.” While, when asked the same question, Eva said, “That is such a tough topic. My life has just been filled heavily with loads and loads and loads of work. You know, it definitely just takes a lot of time management skills and you need to start your homework as soon as you get home, even if you do a sport, start your homework because you don‘t want to do it too late because then you won’t get any sleep and you’ll be tired for the next day.”

Later in the interview with Eva when we were talking about what she wishes she could change about high school she said, “The amount of tests.”

 High school is a journey of self-discovery and every adolescent who enters it leaves changed by their experiences, that is the true meaning of high school.