Freshman First Year Compared to Other Normal Years

By: Gianna Comelli

Freshman year is like a shower after soccer practice. You wash off all the dirt and sweat of middle school, and begin your life as a high schooler. The excitement of new adventures, classes, and friendships rushes over the masses. The new students look forward to their first school dance where they’ll dress their best and party the night away. The football games where we chant and scream along with every completed pass and touchdown.

The year of 2020 absolutely wrecked that. The pandemic shut everything down, and the world ultimately came to a stop. As most never dealt with a pandemic before, naturally people freaked out. Summer went from a short amount of time to half a year. Quarantine kept us locked in the house. Masks became a part of our everyday lives. The world definitely flipped upside down.

As time’s gone on we slowly have found new normals, where we can stay safe and live somewhat how we used to (hence going back to school). In person learning has been an experience for sure. Social distancing isn’t always easy, but everyone wears their mask. Connecting to teachers has been difficult 8 THE EYRIE

where in the past it was much easier.

With the pandemic lingering around freshmen haven’t been able to participate in new things this year. These activities areusually the highlight of any high school class. It’s hard to start the school year and have nothing to look forward to on a Friday night. Andrea Santamaria, freshman, said “I wish it could be a normal year obviously and that we could just do more things like have assemblies and go to games,”.

Along with the loss of certain events, school has brought up new challenges. It’s been really hard to connect with one another, as it isn’t safe to stand around and talk anymore. Making new friends is a huge part of high school that

the current freshman have not gotten to fully experience. “It’s been really hard not being able to talk to friends because we’re rushed into our classes and we are split up by last name,” JordynDeArmond, freshman, said There’s so many things that make up freshman year. Ashlyn Bible, freshman, says “I wish I could go to games and dances and see all my friends at school”. All the extracurricular activities definitely gave a sense of community and liveliness to our school lives. Bible also made it clear that bonding with teachers has been much more difficult as she said, “They’re kind of just there to teach and don’t connect with us because there’s no time”. This is very different compared to previous years. Molly McBride,

junior, says “I got to be with everyone everyday and connect through the dance team and theatre” McBride’s freshman year consisted of unity within the school body and staff as she later said, “I got to see my teachers face to face and connect with them as well”. Current challenges are majorly different from those before. Covid changed how school looks as a whole, so putting that on top of your first year in high school can be chaotic. Martin Ndungu, sophomore, said “Finding my way through halls for like the first few days was hard”. This is a typical obstacle when you’re new to the school, but to think this was one of the biggest stressors to previous classes is mind blowing. Upperclassmen hold dear memories of the activities they got to participate in. Games have allowed the student body that sense of brotherhood that current Freshman have not yet gotten to experience. “Freshman year I loved going to football games and the spirit that the student section had every game win or lose,” Naomi Solomon, senior, said. Although this past year hasn’t been ideal, the school continues to take steps back to a new norm. One where we all can connect and share a bond, in and out of school.