High school is a big change from middle school, so naturally, we freshmen try to picture what life will be like for the next four years. Will the teachers be nice? How big is the high school, really? How much more work do we have to do? What are my new classmates going to be like? Different expectations fill the thoughts of nervous and excited 9th graders.

Everyone has their own thought bubble of what high school is like, but whether or not it is popped depends. Freshman Stephanie Chen said, “Since the campus is huge, I was scared I’d get lost and confused. It was expected, but I got the hang of it pretty quick. The teachers aren’t as bad as they seem… but you would expect more people from your middle school to be in your classes. However, I know everything will get more stressful later on, and I’ll struggle.” Similarly, freshman Krystal Dang felt that AHS is going more smoothly than she had thought: “Compared to what I originally believed high school would be, the results were very much different. Before the start of this year I thought high school would be busier and as students we were to be, more or less, left on our own to figure our way through the campus and routine of the day. After orientation and the exception of a full first week of school, I believe high school is much less hectic as I thought it would be, and though I’m still getting used to the schedule, high school isn’t a bad experience. What I think it would be like later on is that the classes and their expectations would be growing throughout the year, and the pressure will continue to expand.”

I have many hopes and (mainly) fears about high school, particularly the workload. Although I already have taken some tests within the first few weeks of school and homework is currently light, I do not believe that the rest of the year will be this easy. I predict that it will drastically increase along with joining clubs and teams. However, I also look forward to enjoying my freshman year in the extracurriculars and getting to know my new peers from Foothills Middle School and First Avenue Middle School.

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