For most, freshman year is often painted as the beginning – the time to finally feel like you’re stepping into a whole new world. But most seniors will tell you that the way you see high school at the start is nothing like the way you’ll see it at the end. Looking back, many wish that they could go back and tell their freshman self a few things that would have made their journey easier. This week, I interviewed two Hughson High School seniors on what they wished they had known when they were freshmen.
One of the biggest realizations seniors share is that high school goes by fast. As a freshman, four years can feel like an eternity, but by the time senior year comes around, many wonder how everything flew by so quickly. According to senior student Jasmine Graham, if she could choose to redo one thing from her freshman year, she would, “Branch out and make new friends.” One habit that Graham suggests freshmen start building early is “… time management. High school is fun if you learn to balance.” The first few awkward weeks of school, in which you’re finding your classes, wondering where you’re meant to sit at lunch, and worrying about what people think of you, will eventually fade away. Seniors often wish that they had known to stress less about the little stuff, because a lot of their worries in the beginning don’t matter at the end.
According to Tommy McCullough, another senior student at HHS, the transition from freshman to senior came with some surprises. “I guess what surprised me the most is that, my freshman year, I thought the work was hard. And now, this year, I don’t think the work is hard enough, so I don’t think that I’m learning as much as I should.” When asked, McCullough agreed that freshman year still set the tone for the remainder of high school. While it’s easy to blow off assignments and tell yourself that your grades don’t matter, early classes can make a big difference later…