Freshman Year: First Impressions

Freshman Year: First Impressions

Do you remember when you began freshman year?  

 

Do you remember how you felt or what you thought?  For some, it may have been only six months ago.  However, other students started freshman year three years ago.  Was the freshman experience for current seniors the same as the first day of freshman year for the ninth graders now?

 

Pentucket Freshman Maddi Doyle said, “It was kind of scary coming in with new kids.”  She also added she was afraid that she “wouldn’t have friends in any classes.”  During freshman year, it seems to be comforting to have friends or familiar faces in classes.

 

Another freshman, Alyssa Mottola, said, “Having a lot of friends in classes made me feel good.”

 

Senior Boo Torrisi said, “Since it was freshman year everyone was always with someone.”

 

Pentucket Sophomore Grace Giannatsis also agrees.  She said, “I knew I had friends in each class, which was comforting.”  The relief that having a friend in class provides, made the transition to freshman year a little easier for students.

 

Unfortunately, students who are new to the Pentucket Regional School District their freshman year do not have the luxury of having friends around.  

 

Pentucket Junior Jon Parsons is one of the many students who started his freshman year unfamiliar with those around him.  He described his first few days as ¨pretty wild.¨  Jon also added that, ¨I literally had no clue where I was going or [who] anyone around me [was].¨  Jon said his experience on the football team helped him meet some of his peers, but it took him awhile to really make friends.

 

Another reason that a freshman may feel confident about coming into his/her first year of high school is when he/she knows his/her teachers are good.  Current freshman Maddie Mailhot said, “My schedule made me feel pretty good because I liked all my classes and I heard my teachers were good.”

 

Senior Beebe Jackson said, “My classes were easy” and also described freshman year as an “easy adjustment.”   

 

The biggest struggle of freshman year is most commonly the possibility of getting lost in the halls.  The school feels much larger to the former eighth graders compared to the middle school, which is what makes the confusing hallways such an adjustment.   

 

Sophomore Gabby Blake said the school was “spooky scary” during freshman year and that she “got lost every four seconds.”  Gabby also stated that “The first month of freshman year I had to follow people around because I did not know where I was going. I just kind of hoped they were going to the same place.”  Gabby, similar to most freshmen, feared getting lost in the school the most.

 

However, the fear of upperclassmen was a recurring topic mentioned throughout all interviews.

 

Senior Cam Wolbach said that when he was a freshman he was “intimidated by the upperclassmen.”  

 

Junior Natalie Davis describes the thoughts going through her head as a freshman as “oh my god there are so many people,” and “I have to be respectful to upperclassmen!”

 

However, some students, like sophomore Noah Elias-Guy, found comfort in the presence of an upperclassmen.  When asked what was helpful during freshman year, Noah said, “I took refuge under the cooperative wing of a senior who taught me how to manage the grueling daily lifestyle that is high school.”  

 

Whether it be an awkward freshman year, a year full of new experiences, or what sophomore Meaghan O’Neil called “a literal joke,” freshman year is what you make it.  

 

It is simply how you embrace it that counts.