Students compare educational experiences

The transition from junior high to high school is often a stressful yet exciting event that everyone experiences. Freshmen encounter a variation of new challenges and changes throughout their first year of high school. A much more competitive, active, and social environment awaits new high schoolers; preparing them for the future.

From an almost serene world, students once again move into a much more challenging one filled with many expectations and responsibilities. More freedom then means less now, since there is almost no time for it. School and homework become one of the biggest parts of the lives of high schoolers.  

Freshmen experience new challenges such as difficult classes, more homework while balancing other activities. Daniel Williams, ’20, shares his thoughts on the difference between JH and high school as well as some of his struggles.

“The workload increases a bunch,” Williams said. “Friends that I used to have, either transferred out or started hanging out with other people. Staying with my moral beliefs is a struggle. In JH pretty much everyone followed them. In high school people start seeing the world in a different fashion. So things that used to be totally wrong then, now seem to be okay.”

Jayda Armstrong, ’20, enjoyed JH more, and sees both middle school and high school as being very different.

“Junior high is different from high school, because in junior high you feel more free the stress for work is not as much,” Armstrong said. “When you first come to high school you feel a lot of pressure. You need to get straight A’s and in four years you will be graduating high school and then heading in college. It’s very exciting in high school because of all the different things you don’t usually get to do in junior  high. I like junior high more because you are more free and don’t have as much homework.”

High school students in higher grades recall their personal challenges and expectations from this previous transition. Joshua Savage, ’19, describes his prior move from middle school to high school as intimidating and anticipating.

“The hardest adjustments were learning a new routine, the new teaching style, and joining the harder high school leadership team,” Savage said. “Also, there are more responsibilities and events. I miss the small group of teachers and the simplicity of it all. I sort of enjoyed JH more just because of the simple classes and homework, and the very little responsibility.”

As students get older and move on to high school their personality and behavior change too. Junior high teacher Hallie Rojeski taught both JH and high school, and observed the growth in students.

“They change physically,” Rojeski said. “By the time they’re in high school they’ve gone through a great deal of physical growth inwardly and outwardly. Attitudes change a lot as they begin to take things more seriously when they get to high school.”

Rojeski enjoyed teaching high school more earlier in her life, yet now she takes pleasure working with the energetic and enthusiastic junior highers. Despite the many changes, struggles, and challenges students encounter throughout their first year of high school, these mere struggles will prepare them for the challenges they will face as adults.

For another article, read: Coldplay concert surpasses expectations, electrifies crowd.

This writer can be reached via twitter: @Tatiana08102000 and via email: Tatiana Iest.