Freshman year marks the beginning of every high school student’s four-year journey. Starting high school can create a mix of feelings, like anxiety, excitement and uncertainty.

As middle school comes to an end, many stressful aspects in regards to becoming a High schooler arise. The pressures of picking the best classes, wearing the right outfit and even finding a place to sit at lunch become present in many students’ lives.

“I was a little nervous coming into high school because I didn’t know what to expect, but I thought it was going to be fun besides that,” Liam Garwick, freshman, said. 

Although the transition to high school is a big change and can be intimidating, students often find that it is not as scary as it may seem.

“So far, high school is pretty fun and not as hard as I thought it was going to be, considering what my peers told me to expect,” Garwick said.

In media and movies, high school is often portrayed as a place of conflict and doubt. While this can be true, the amount of opportunities at stake makes high school something to look forward to.

“Definitely get involved, because it’s a lot easier to make friends and get involved in the community,” Shelby Moon, freshman, said.

School participation is a great motivator that leads to academic success, as it helps students stay focused on academics by surrounding students with goal driven peers. 

“This year I was on the football team, and it inspired me to work hard in school and get good grades so I could stay on the team,” Garwick said.

It is important to find individual ways to maximize academic success. This looks different for everyone and may be learned over time through experimenting what works best personally.

“This year, math was pretty hard, especially focusing on the formulas,” Moon said. “Listening to music was a helpful method that helped me focus more on my work in class.” 

Freshman year is a new path that paves the way for the next four years, in which learning how to manage responsibilities is key to being successful.

“Try to balance your classes. Make sure you don’t get behind on work, because it builds up and can end up being a lot,” Jack Ponder, freshman, said.

As the year comes to an end, this year’s freshmen become the new sophomores, having obtained new memories and knowledge throughout the year that can be passed down to incoming freshmen.