What do you get in a school packed with students with only a schedule in your hand? You get lost. Every hallway seems to look exactly the same, room numbers seem like a hidden code, and every time you swear you’ve found your class, you end up on the other side of the school.
But don’t worry, every other upperclassman has been in your shoes. I asked a few students about how they survived their first weeks, and here’s what they had to say.
Jaden Guzman, a senior at WHHS, explained how it only took him a week or two to get used to the school: “My teachers really helped me find my classes,” he says. In hindsight, he’d tell his freshman self not to overthink things because, in his wise words, “Freshman year is the best year of your life.” The best piece of advice for incoming freshmen? “To pay attention in school.”
Halima Gaber, another senior at WHHS, tells a very different story from Jaden. “It took me the whole year to get used to the school,” she says. Luckily, she had some help; she followed her friends, and they were her biggest support. Looking back, she’d tell herself that it’s never that serious. Her advice to freshmen? “Focus on your work and don’t allow yourself to have any regrets.”
So, yes, you’re definitely going to end up in the wrong class. Follow a random group into the cafe, or somehow end up in the locker rooms when you’re looking for math. But it’s okay, getting lost is something everyone goes through. At one point, everyone was stepping into a new place, not knowing what to do or where to go. But they figured it out, and eventually you will too. When the time comes, you’ll have almost every room memorized, and actually figure out where to go, and you’ll look back at the wrong turns or little mistakes we all made and realize it’s not such a big deal after all. Who knows? Maybe next year you’ll be giving your own advice to freshmen.
