Ah, freshman year. The single most daunting phase of a puny teenager’s life. Everyone’s a freshie at some point, but no experience is truly the same. 

As I write this, there’s less than a month left of my freshman year! Soon we’ll all be dragged away in the clutches of ye old summer break. Art thou excited?!

Well, however you feel about the year ending, I bet we can agree it had a bit of a rocky start. Attending a new school is always challenging, but doing so after nearly a year of Covid-induced online schooling? Yikes! I certainly didn’t know what to expect back in August. I think I got lost at least twice a day. 

Kamil Schab shares how he felt at the beginning of the year; “At first freshman year made everything about ‘school’ feel unfamiliar. But now, in May, I feel at home here.” 

What a sentiment, Kamil. It’s definitely shocking to find yourself suddenly familiar with a new place, especially a mammoth of a building like OLCHS!

 On the academics side of things, I personally felt like there wasn’t much of a transition. I think OLHMS did a great job preparing students for the workload that they would approach in highschool. (I can’t say much for Simmons kids, you guys are a mystery to me.)

A lot of us freshmen attended our first school dance this year, or went to our first football game. While these festive highschool tropes followed me from movies to reality, there were other expectations that (thankfully) remained fictional.

Excuse the amount of sappiness in the upcoming paragraph, but I’ve got a lot to appreciate! I really don’t think teenagers get enough credit for their kindness, work ethic, and intelligence. From what I’ve experienced this year, I can confidently say that the concept of a ‘social ladder’ within highschools has nearly burnt itself out.

“I don’t think anyone’s used the word ‘clique’ in the last ten years. No one really cares about that stuff anymore.” (-Fotis Patrianakos)

Especially in a world where ‘bully culture’ is perpetuated in nearly every form of media, it’s really refreshing to see people respect each other in a learning environment.

“Tropes like ‘the mean girl’ or ‘the nerd’ don’t really stick these days. No one’s gonna judge you for what you do in your free time. Maybe people are just a lot less nosy.” (-Anonymous)

Well said, Anonymous. We’ve all got our own busy lives to attend to, y’know? 

When you think about it, we’re all just figuring out how to be mini-adults. We’re not really kids anymore, but we definitely still need some guidance. For example, I still haven’t figured out what a tax benefit is.
(Wishing a great summer to you and yours, fellow freshmen. We survived!)