Freshman year is a year that everybody remembers, and those in the grade currently are able to experience new things that they may have never been able to experience before. Since freshman year is the first year of high school, many freshmen could have certain opinions about the switch from middle school to high school. Many students may think that high school is more constrictive than middle school in terms of freedom or the other way around. The jump from middle school is a big step for almost all freshmen and everybody’s ideas on high school could either differ or be similar.
Once students enter high school, the workload becomes much larger and more difficult than what they were used to in middle school. Not only are their workloads larger, they also have completely new classes with different subjects and obviously different teachers that they have to get used to. After asking some students about their experience, I think the freshman student from Pahrump Valley High School De’Lon Tighe had the best answer, “It was a bit weird, in like, the first semester, or the first quarter, I was getting adjusted to the two extra classes, the way the teachers do things.” Freshmen have to get adjusted to the new atmosphere of high school and classes are just the first part of what they have to adjust to.
Another thing freshmen may find different after middle school is their social life. Some students may experience a massive jump from middle school in terms of popularity or just meeting new people in general. Tighe also had a very insightful comment on this aspect of school, “I’ve begun delving into different crowds of people, you know, I recently got into skateboarding which has introduced me to many different people.” Tighe is a perfect representation of freshmen meeting new people and learning new things as they adapt to high school life.
Something that all students notice immediately once they enter high school is the freedom that the school grants. Some schools may grant more freedom than others but at PVHS students count the jump in freedom from middle school as immense. Another freshman student at PVHS, Tyler Weaver, had an interesting take on the freedom of PVHS, “I feel that there’s a lot more freedom here and there’s a lot more fluctuation in what you can do in this school compared to the middle school.” Weaver perfectly encapsulates what most students think of high school, and that’s the freedom that it gives you compared to previous grades.
Overall, every student’s experience as a freshman is different and everybody’s jump from middle school to high school may be drastically different than another student’s. No matter what school a student may attend or how they operated in their previous grade, their high school experience is something that they’ll always remember. Almost every student at PVHS can agree that switching over to the high school was a massive upgrade, so if you’re becoming a freshman soon, just think about how awesome your high school experience will be.
