by Alyssa McKeone
First trimester is wrapping up. West High has the Boot back. The cross country, swimming and volleyball teams are all preparing for state meets. Gigantic ACT and SAT study books are out, and students are flipping through them.
Seniors are taking college visits and filling out applications and scholarship forms. There seem to be innumerable things going on every week. As Monday morning begins and planners start to fill up with homework, you may ask yourself: is there really time to do all of this?
On the other end of the spectrum are the newcomers: the freshmen. Freshmen are just beginning to see what high school is all about. Teachers here have higher expectations than in junior high, there is only one dance (two if Prom counts) and the school is much bigger.
The first day of school brings many emotions: fear (upperclassmen are intimidating!), nervousness, shyness, and even overwhelming joy (lets get real: there are endless lunch options, tons of classes to choose from and awesome teachers). Most students agree that the first day was not a piece of cake.
“I didn’t expect so [many] people,” Terrance Hines ’16 said.
“The most difficult thing was for me to open my locker,” Shamyra Jordan ‘16 said. Many other students agree that opening their locker was a big challenge the first day; at West, the lockers open differently than at North Central or Northwest.
Despite students having an additional minute in to get to classes, some felt skeptical that the extra minute may not fully compensate for how large the school seemed the first day.
“At first I got really nervous. I thought I’d be late to my classes,” Lexi Lampeer ’16 said.
After getting through the first few weeks, freshmen have begun to enjoy the perks of being a high school student.
“I was surprised because I don’t have a lot of homework,” Tommy Duffy ’16 said.
After getting a grasp on what high school life is like, students are also becoming involved in clubs and sports.
“I’m in the program called SSIKE,” Shamyra Jordan ‘16 said.
Other students have aspirations to become involved in extracurricular activities.
“I want to get involved in theater,” said Lampeer.
“I’m going out for track,” Makalah Davis ‘16 said.
“I like the diversity of it,” Lampeer said of her favorite part of life at West.
