If freshman year seems bad, Senior Sally’s experiences can show you this: it often gets better.
Q: What was your first day of freshman year like?
A: Scary, exciting, and different, but also really fun.
The days leading up to my first day of freshman year were filled with anxiety and excitement. I had made the volleyball team and practices had already started, so I was familiar with the athletic wing of Central, but the concept of being hurdled into something called the “Freshman House” honestly terrified me. I had met my teachers, and seen my classrooms, but I was nervous to see it all in action.
Upon waking up for my first day as a high schooler at Central I was greeted with p
ainful nausea and a headache. I got ready for school anyway but one look at my breakfast sent me running to the bathroom ready to upchuck whatever was left of my dinner from the night before. My grandma knew how much I wanted to go to school but wouldn’t allow it because of how sick I was. Looking back on it, I think I was just nervous, because the very next day I was awake and ready to go to what would be MY first day of school. The teachers immediately teased me for playing hookie so early in the school year, which brought a lot of unwanted attention to me in a classroom filled with people. I absolutely didn’t understand the concept of red and white days so I ended up going to my red day classes rather than the white day classes I was supposed to go to. I kept getting knocked into and shoved around in the stampedes they call hallways. Needless to say, the first day of freshman year was not going so well.
I kept getting knocked into and shoved around in the stampedes they call hallways.
I’ve come a long way since that first day of freshman year. Advice and stories from teammates in the volleyball program really helped me feel comfortable and at ease with the whole freshman thing. The Cobbler 2 Cobbler program also made me feel more connected with the upperclassmen and helped me come out of my shell. Rough starts are a normal thing (especially for me) but I saw it as a sign that things would only get better, and they did! You should not let one bad day or a rough start ruin your entire high school experience. After all, even if freshman year is bad, you still have three more years to try to turn things around.
Artwork by Sydney Bitz
The Pine Needle 