Freshmen—A Wrap-Up of Their Year

May 25, 2010  
Filed under Feature

The day is here: the first day of freshman year. A freshman walks up to the big doors of Ottawa High School, about to pee their pants, and begins to have visions of being stuffed in a locker, shoved in a trash can or getting their undies raised up on the flagpole. Ahh, the joys of freshman year.

This may be an exaggeration but there is no doubt that the first day of high school always strikes a bit of fear in the hearts of incoming freshmen, and this year’s freshmen were no exception. Freshman Paige Weidner described her first day of high school as nerve-wracking yet exciting. Fellow freshman Taylor Graf expressed much of the same feelings.

“I was nervous because there were so many older kids here, and from the stories that everyone tells,” Graf said.

It is no secret that the transition from middle school to high school can be a tough one. Incoming freshmen not only encounter new teachers in an unfamiliar building but also the challenges of meeting new people and taking harder classes. Some of this year’s freshmen felt they adapted easily to the feats of high school but others felt as though they were not adequately prepared in middle school for the changes they were about to face. Graf said he felt as though he was prepared for the most part while Weidner disagreed.

“I don’t feel as though I was prepared really at all, because like the environment, being in class with upperclassmen and what teachers expect of you is hard to learn. You have to experience it,” Weidner said.

Freshman Jaime Hodge, who moved to Ottawa from Gardner this year, agreed with Graf in that her teachers did their best to prepare her for what was to come.

“When you turned in an assignment, I know the teachers in Gardner would say ‘Oh you know that’s not gonna fly in high school’,” Hodge said.

What are some of the biggest changes the freshmen experienced?

“Just being thrown in with all kids,” Graf said. “Not just being in class with just your age group.” Without a doubt, being in class with older students can be intimidating,but Weidner said one of the largest changes came with athletics.

“Sports is the big one; with competition, what you’re going after ‘win-wise’,” Weidner said. “In middle school, you just go to play. In high school, you play to win.”

Freshman Mike Hack said the biggest change is going from the top of the totem pole to the bottom.

“It sucked at first,” Hack said of going from eighth to ninth. “Being the youngest ones instead of the oldest.” It is true, going from being top dog at the middle school to fresh meat at the high school can be a little scary. Upperclassmen can be intimidating and unapproachable—enough to make a poor freshman shiver in their boots.

“I was intimidated a little at first,” Graf said. “But once you talk to them they’re pretty cool and easy to get along with.”

Hack said he was not expecting to make so many friends in upper classes but just like in Graf and Hack’s case, all it takes to make you comfortable in the new surroundings is to reach out and talk to the upperclassmen. After all, they do not bite… hard.

“I feel like I got along with the upperclassmen really well,” Weidner said. “Sports really made that much easier.”

As much as high school can be intimidating, scary and challenging, it can also be fun, exciting and a very good time.  From the more competitive athletics to the increased freedom and social scene, high school can be a roller coaster for every teenager, but especially for the youngsters.

“The best thing about freshman year was all the student involvement there is through athletics and stuff,” Graf said. “And I didn’t expect as much freedom as we got.”

“One of the best things was getting involved in cheerleading,” Hodge said. “That really helped me socially.”

But as we all know, high school is not all rainbows and butterflies.

“One of the hardest things was probably keeping up with homework,” Graf said. “Teachers don’t come and find you if there’s a problem with an assignment.”

Weidner, too, had challenges her first year.

“The hardest thing about it was balancing the time I needed to put into sports and school,” Weidner said.

Although high school was a mix of ups and downs for the freshmen class, most of them agree that it was all worth it in the end.

“Overall, I think it was actually a pretty successful year,” Hodge said.

So maybe next year, the soon-to-be sophomores will feel a bit more grown up and prepared to take on the high school scene. Or maybe we are just going to need bigger trash cans.

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Jaime Birzer

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