Transitioning to high school creates anxiety

Grade 9 students in the Collective Voice program at Aden Bowman Collegiate share their lives and opinions through columns. Selected columns run Mondays in The Saskatoon Starphoenix.

High school was once a distant two-word concept that caused me stress and nausea, but now the same two words bring comfort and contentment.

Starting high school was really hard for me emotionally, and I used to have trouble comprehending the fact that I was going to be attending Aden Bowman Collegiate in the fall.

I came from a Montessori school, which I had attended since preschool. We never really had huge classes, so essentially all of my classmates were the same until Grade 8. Since I had never experienced changing schools before, it was a very difficult summer for me to prepare for this next step in my life.

I felt very alone in the transition to Grade 9. I thought nobody felt the same way I did about starting high school. I would ask older friends to tell me more about their experience transitioning, or how they thought I would cope with the change. Sometimes the advice they gave me was very helpful, but other times all they would tell me was “You’ll be fine.”

Hearing that sentence over and over again got frustrating very quickly. I would ask my friends, “How do you know I’ll be fine?” All they would say in return was, “You just will be.”

I couldn’t explain to you how those two responses caused me so much anxiety, but now that I am in high school I finally know what my friends meant. They knew I was going to be okay. I just wish they could have explained to me differently that that was the case. I feel that if they told me more about everything I would have been better emotionally, and I would have believed them.

If anybody ever asked me what the transition to high school was like I would be honest and forthright.

I would tell them to not be afraid to ask questions. I would also tell them that they are not alone, that there are others who are transitioning who feel the same way. Most importantly I would tell them that the transition to high school is not always easy, but that it will get better.

I am okay now, and I feel very happy with where I am currently. The transition to high school will always be something that I will remember, but not as a negative thing. I will learn from this stepping stone in my life and use it later on.

Being a 14-year-old in my first year of high school means that I have yet to experience bigger adjustments in my life. Just because I am young doesn’t mean I will never experience these things later on, but with a more serious outcome.

Everybody transitions at least once in their lifetime. Every alteration has its ups and downs, but that is all just a part of the process. You need to push through the dark days to get to the bright days, and no matter where your life will take you next — whether it’s a new job, university, or high school — just know that it will get better.