Kristen Raffaele, Reporter
@kraffcourant
While some freshman may worry about college within the first few weeks of school, seniors often think back to their freshman year as they near the end of their high school career. What are the goals, worries, and questions these current freshmen and seniors have for the 2020 school year?
In order to get inside the heads of the class of 2023, freshman Junie Cochran gave some insight on what she and other freshmen are focusing on this year. “We’re a really athletic grade. We had two girls make varsity field hockey, and another girl who made varsity soccer. I would say that sports and our grades are really important to us,” Junie said.
Cynthia Rivera, guidance counselor, thinks the Freshmen need time to adjust to a new environment. “The freshmen are stressing about grades way too much,” Ms. Rivera said. “They’re thinking about the number at all times and they’re forgetting about the learning. I’ve heard it from my seniors over and over again that they wish they hadn’t stressed about grades so much because their grades improved as they started to enjoy the learning and just got into the class and really jumped in”.
Freshman Logan Carlson is also focused on sports this year. “I’m worried about doing well in sports. In middle school it’s easier to be the best, but now everyone is good,” Logan said.
Senior Kyle Russell understands this first-hand, but he thinks freshmen athletes should work on improvement. “Just work every day to get better. And if you’re showing that effort every single day, you will achieve greatness and be noticed by your coaches” Kyle said.
Kyle also emphasizes the enjoyment of high school sports. “Being a freshman who played sports was actually very helpful coming into high school. It allowed me to meet older students and get to bond with older teammates and gain new friends,” Kyle said.
However, the concerns the freshmen have are not just sports-related. Logan described how his first year at the high school has been so far. “It’s been full of new experiences like learning new things, getting to know the school, especially the teachers. All of that was kind of scary” Logan said. Junie agrees with Logan on this. “People worry about having nice and fair teachers. I know I definitely do,” Junie said.
However, senior Izzy Carpenter stresses the idea that the teachers at the high school are nothing to worry about. “All of my teachers have been absolutely amazing. I think it’s because I am very outgoing, but all I know is that if you’re a student who is willing to try to make a connection and bond with a teacher, all of the teachers at our school would love it and appreciate it,” Izzy said.
Aside from their sports and teachers, the class of 2023 stresses the importance of grades throughout all of high school. Junie expressed that grades are a huge pressure for freshmen. “What worries me is my grades because grades really matter now. Comparing tests from eighth grade and now, there’s a huge jump in the level of difficulty,” Junie said.
Izzy recommends a balance between academics and a life outside of school. “You have to say to yourself; okay I can go out and hang out with my friends or go to that football game because I have enough time Saturday afternoon or Sunday night to get all of my work done, a lot of success comes with responsible time management,” Izzy said. “It helped me to work harder by thinking about the bigger picture.”
