THE HIGHSCHOOL PLUNGE
For incoming freshmen, the jump to a new school can be daunting Recent grads and principals share their tips of easing the pressure
As children, we all watched movies and television shows about high school, wondering what awaited us once we entered the ninth grade. Yet as most who have gone through high school know, it’s not always the iconic and romanticized version that is often depicted in our society’s popular media outlets.
And for incoming freshmen entering a new school for ninth grade this year, that can be a little scary.
But just because most people’s high school experiences don’t include watching their peers sing and perform choreographed dances down the halls or joining friend groups with monogrammed matching jackets, it doesn’t mean one can’t make the most of those four years. In a world full of endless exceptions and possibilities for what lies ahead during that time of their academic career, incoming freshmen have a lot to consider before their first day of school this fall, as a number of high school graduates and educators from Santa Fe told Generation Next.
“I remember as a little kid, I couldn’t wait to go to high school,” said Carl Marano, principal at Santa Fe High School. Marano, who graduated from Santa Fe High in 1989, loved his high school experience and was always at the school growing up because his father was a teacher and coach there. Although the transition wasn’t difficult for Marano, he recognizes that a move to a new school in general can be scary for some students: “I think it’s just the unfamiliarity of it,” he said. “It’s like moving into a new town or a new city.”
Channell Wilson-Segura, the executive director for school support at Santa Fe Public Schools and former Capital High School principal, agrees. “Being nervous about going to high school is normal. Any time humans experience change, there will always exist a sense of anxiety and fear of the unknown,” she said.
In addition to the unfamiliar new setting, incoming high school students have a lot on their minds, ranging from academic to social to even geographic issues. “I remember in all honestly not being so nervous about my classes,” said Mariah Runyan, principal at Capital High School, when recalling her first day of high school. “I remember being most nervous about where the classes were, getting lost and, ‘Am I going to look like a fool in front of people not knowing what I’m doing?’ and like, ‘Who am I going to eat lunch with?’ So to me it was more the social part, the anxiety, and then once you overcame that, then you could get into what was happening in the classroom.”
“I think the biggest thing is the peer pressure,” said Marano. “I don’t think you can ever prepared yourself for peer pressure. Sometimes you make bad choices just to fit in.” In order to overcome these challenges, Marano’s advice to students is to find someone trustworthy. “Sometimes it doesn’t have to be an adult; it can be a student, it can be a friend,” he said. “Especially at the high school level, that’s one thing I noticed last year being my first year at the high school: Students have a lot of power, students can really influence others, in a negative way but also in a very positive way.”
And find a way to be who you are and connect with people who support you, 2017 Santa Fe High School graduate Ariana Salazar said — even if those people are not the same ones who were your friends in middle school.
“I wish I had known that people are going to change, but that’s OK. The friends I had in middle school are not the same friends that I have now,” Salazar said. Her advice is, “Stay true to who you are and the morals that you believe in. If this causes you to lose friends, those people were never your friends to begin with. By always standing by your morals, you will be able to surround yourself with new people who not only have things in common with you, but better you and challenge you in all the right ways.”
In addition to the environmental and social shifts many incoming students experience, the work load will change as well. “They [incoming freshmen] should know that teachers expect more of them,” said Lia Kane, a 2017 graduate from Desert Academy. “As I went through high school, I had to rely more on myself than on other people,” she said.
New students must learn to balance all of these changes when entering high school, but in a new setting full of new people and opportunities, it can be hard to make that balance work. “I think it’s a combination of the expectations to be popular and maintain strong academics; it’s a lot of pressure for kids, and it doesn’t change entering college, either,” said Taso Warsa, another 2017 graduate of Desert Academy. “Be mature, be yourself, work hard at everything you do.”
Capital High School graduate Flora Gallegos said you can expect a lot of distractions, so staying focused is important. Capital’s 2017 valedictorian, Gallegos believes a key part in thriving in high school is simply being there. “As long as you show up, it’s not that hard at all. Knowing that would have definitely saved me some anxiety starting off,” she said. “And don’t be afraid to ask for help, because there’s so many people willing to help.”
Educators and students alike believe that taking part in extracurricular activities also can benefit a student’s standing throughout high school.
“Most students who struggle tend to not be connected to the school,” said Marano, who encourages students to get involved with a sport, club or other extracurricular activities right away so that they can “really find that purpose of coming to school.”
“Take risks, try new things,” Runyan said. “I think sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zones and take those risks, and this is the time to do it because you’re in a safer environment.”
Wilson-Segura, who graduated from Capital High School in 1998, encourages students to “set lofty goals for yourself, get involved in as many athletics and activities as possible, engage in rigorous classes, aim for straight A’s, and know that you are a collegebound student.”
Although it is important to make the most of one’s high school career academically, it’s also important to enjoy it while it lasts — and let all the stress go sometimes. “I think it’s important to realize that you need to get your schoolwork done but that you also need to relax sometimes, because if you never relax, then it’s just horrible,” Kane said. “Sometimes it’s just good to take a day and not do anything if you can.
“I know everybody says this, but it does end. It felt like forever. It felt like it took 20 years out of my life, but it didn’t. It’s four [years]; you will make it,” she said.
“Enjoy high school while it lasts,” Salazar said. “The world gets a lot more real once you graduate, so don’t be in a rush to try to mature faster or act like an adult sooner than when you’re supposed to be.”