Freshmen transition to high school

Rebecca+Sias%2C+a+freshman+journalism+student%2C+explored+the+changes+that+first-year+students+must+adjust+to+during+high+school.

Photo / Victoria Gasca

Rebecca Sias, a freshman journalism student, explored the changes that first-year students must adjust to during high school.

The first semester of the 2019-2020 school year has passed, and some freshmen are still adjusting to the transition from middle school.

While some freshmen have made a smooth transition and others have had trouble with grades, all of them face new expectations from teachers, parents, and themselves.

Students struggle to behave in the mature way that is expected by teachers and find it difficult to adjust to the workload, especially during the first nine weeks.

“The first nine weeks is usually the roughest, as they are transitioning into high school and transitioning into the stricter level of expectations we have in place,” English teacher Ms. Michelle Teter said. “I think that the expectations are stricter, and there’s that expectation that you now need to bridge the gap from childhood to becoming an adult, so there’s less leniency.”

Expectations vary from middle school to high school, and the impact is felt differently by students of different backgrounds.

Freshman Alexa Guzman feels that public middle school expectations are lower, but in high school, students are supposed to act more maturely and have a good work ethic.

However, there are students who do not feel the difference as much as others.

“They’d get on you more and tell you to do better, so I felt like a lot more was expected from me in middle school,” freshman Christina Duncan said.

No matter how freshmen feel about their transitions, they often feel pressure themselves during to get better grades.

“Some of the stress is induced by the student, because they have such high expectations,” counselor Sharon Uribe said. “Sometimes with the rigor, kids bite off more than they can chew.”

As students move one step closer to college, the expectation of excelling academically is heavy, especially as class ranks are released with the start of the new semester.

“Knowing everyone is doing their hardest to guarantee a good college is stressful, and it makes you work harder,” Guzman said.