by Giuliana Leotta
One thing I want to clear up about being a freshman, as it appears right now, is that it is not as horrible as most people remember it to be. At least, it is what you make of it. I have to admit that the first days were just confusion-filled messes. They were the first days of a journey that will last four years, more or less. In those few days, you could not see any part of what lies ahead, but there was no need to. I think that the most important part of going into something new is not to test the water with your toes, only to get intimidated by however cold it feels or by how deep it may become. You just have to launch off the land, with your hands wedging a path through the water. So, is an uninhibited lack of caution a good quality to possess as you spring yourself in to high school? Well, not quite.
Many students I have spoken to say that they were wary of taking on too many activities this first time around. It makes sense, too. How much homework would we have? Would we have a load of projects and papers? Does a sport really affect our ability to manage time? I think highly of those who have the capacity to predict the madness. The madness being that which ensues when two different clubs meet on the same day you are writing a research report that is due tomorrow. Trust me—you don’t want that to happen.
I sometimes feel greatly fortunate for the madness, though. Like most of my fellow freshmen, I have not been exposed to even a fraction of the opportunities which have presented themselves so suddenly in this new environment. I never wish to go back to middle school. There would be no newspaper, no new friends, and no challenging material. There seemed to be a sort of boredom that settled over us towards the end of the eighth grade. We had barreled through middle school, almost effortlessly in comparison to the current struggle to hold a place in the world right now. I think our fear of being lost and forgotten has grabbed hold of some of us, and we feel like the world won’t bat an eyelash if we don’t survive this initial rush. We were top dogs in a small world. In a single jarring, violent shutter of our little lives, we realized just how small we actually were. It’s frightening. It’s humbling. And it’s inspiring.