Hallways swarm with excited faces, lockers slam, lunch tables buzz as friends share and classes demand the best–face the facts, high school is a jungle.

For freshmen, this new environment might be a bit more complicated than junior high. This concept often makes the freshmen feel 0out of place. What if there was a way to make them feel more accepted?

The senior buddy program encourages senior buddies to take their freshmen counterparts to lunch, give them gifts on holidays and talk to them to them about their problems.

Chris White, ’05, was one of the seniors who decided to be a buddy. White is an only child and thought it would be fun to hang out with freshmen and make their year better.

“It’s fun meeting new people and hanging out,” White said. “Having senior friends made my freshmen year amazing.”

During White’s freshman year, no senior buddies existed, but he made plenty of senior friends and made his freshmen year the best year. He has been on campus since kindergarten and always got along with older kids.

“I was mature for my age and I didn’t seem to annoy the seniors,” White said. “My senior friends were cool and included me like I was one of the guys.”

According to White, being an only child has its upsides; he does not have to share things and gets plenty of attention.

Even though it gets lonely at times for him, he has his friends to keep him company. He plans on treating his buddy like one the guys, just the way his senior friends treated him.

“I plan on involving him in our seniors only events,” White said. “Those events include playing cards and bringing him lunch from off campus.”

White believes that being a senior buddy can have a major benefit on a freshmen’s year by making them feel more important in high school. He thinks he will benefit from helping to impact a person’s life in his senior year.

The senior students are anticipating getting to know their freshmen student and doing some fun things together.

“I wanted to be a buddy because it sounded like it would be fun,” Micah Walker, ’05, said. “I plan to take my buddy to lunch.”

Freshmen students are also eager to meet a buddy who could improve their first year.

“I think it would be fun to get an opportunity to hang out with a senior,” Leah Fynaut, ’08, said. “It would help me be more involved and it would make the year more interesting.”

The opportunity to make more friends attracts many to the program.

“I think it would be really fun to meet people in a different grade,” Daniele Wilborn, ’08, said. “I think that would make my freshmen year more enjoyable.”

The final list of freshmen/senior buddies is posted on the office and Feather walls.

For more information on the senior-freshmen buddy program, contact the high school office at 229-1695, ext. 5 or see a member of student leadership.