The first day of freshman year can be very nerve-racking. Some people cry the night before; others chew their nails down to a nub as they get up the nerve to step on campus. Incoming freshmen are told two things when they’re going into high school:
1) High school is just like Mean Girls
2) High school is nothing like Mean Girls
They are both myths, maybe legends – stories that nobody can prove right or wrong, things said to a little brother or sister to give them nightmares.
No matter what they’re told, a soon-to-be-ninth-grader can’t really be sure what their high school experience will be like until they’re actually there to experience it.
During the first and second weeks, students are being switched in and out of classes, trying to memorize schedules and classes, and making appointments with counselors. Needless to say, things are anywhere from organized to chaotic.
When asked about the organized chaos of the first day, Mica Campanelli, 9th grader, simply stated, “It was pretty scary, but the first week was cool because I got to meet new people.”
Kimberly Reyes, another 9th grader says that the hardest part was “trying to find friends at lunch, the crowds are crazy.”
Campanelli agreed, saying, “It’s weird how there’s way more people here than middle school and the school is huge.”
But even after a long day of weaving through gigantic crowds of students, some freshmen still find the time to get involved in a number of extracurricular activities. Clarissa Bourchier, 9th grader, for example, plays softball and volleyball. Many freshmen boys have joined the football team and still more have made it a point to join as many clubs they could.
Of course, this is still school. When questioned, most students agreed that homework is more difficult in high school than it had been in junior high.
When talking about what she thinks of this particular school, Bourchier stated in a matter-of-factly way, “Pitman’s the best high school ever.”
