The Mycenaean

Adjusting can be hard. No one likes change, but sometimes in life it has to be done in order to overcome another milestone. 

Freshmen have it bad — they go from a comfortable adaptation to middle school life, top of the food chain 8th graders that ruled the school, to…fresh meat. Some may feel they’ve been discarded into the lion’s den, expected to fend for themselves and find their own way. Scary right? 

In middle school students are told by teachers just how “scary” highschool can be, they get warned to start now with keeping their grades in check, watch out for their gpa, and most importantly study so they can get good grades. 

And although those are very valid points, what about the good things you can receive from high school? Surely it can’t all be bad, you acquire new teachers, new friends, new experiences, and a whole new atmosphere change. This is a big change for them. So, how’s it going? 

In a recent interview with Blase Harris, a freshman at LRHS, he described his recent transition into high school. He stated how the change between middle school and high school had few differentiations. Yes, it was more work and a larger amount of individuals, but for him so far it has been very enjoyable.  “Yes this is great. I really like highschool,” Harris said. 

Further into the interview he proceeded to say highschool for him was better in a way when it came to handling mental health and/or grades. The fatuation Harris had with high school is different to these days, normally a student would groggily point out how much high school negatively progressed their lives. 

When asked for the reason for his infatuation, he said, “Because I came from a very academically focused middle school that was super small, like their entire building was the size of smaller than a Leesville building. So yeah it’s been a large change coming from a school where I knew everyone to Leesville. But it’s been a pretty interesting one because a lot more stuff has opened, instead of a small area it’s much larger much more activities. This is just new.” 

Not all high school students come to school barely awake and learning only to get through, others actually like the scenery, come with their head held high, and desire the knowledge they are allowed in return for their attentiveness. 

But involvement and environment are not the only privileges being obtained and taken away. What about sleep? What about the workload? It may not be much for Blase Harris, but do all the newcomers feel this way? 

Sam El-Housey, another freshman at Leesville offered a different perspective. 

So when asked how this change has affected her El-Housey said, “Well for starters you kind of wake up a lot earlier, so it’s just like your sleep schedule is transitioning. It’s a lot more coursework and stuff and it’s kind of hard to adjust to doing a lot more work.” 

El-Housey goes on: “Your relationships change, you’re not in the same middle school friendships that you used to be. Now you have more mature relationships, it’s just a lot of things that change as you kind of grow up and mature.” 

And that is what highschool is all about — ninth graders are put through this automatic switch that slowly prepares them for the actual switch they will make into an adult not too far along in their life. School teaches you how to grow and mature before you hit the harsh realities of adulthood. 

Adaptation can be hard, some people are good with change and some arent. That is why in life we all move at our own pace, taking on tasks with one or maybe two steps a day. High school lets us figure out life, the kind of person we are, and who we aspire to be, so when we eventually do that huge transition we are not stuck and totally clueless with what we want or should do with our lives. 

This sudden conversion may be new, but freshmen should embrace it, find it within themselves to change the narrative of high schoolers out of touch with life and tired of school. Move in a way that fits you best and conquer the quests you feel you can not, because this is your prime time. Start off great and end off greater.