Freshmen End of Year Thoughts
By: Ava Stroshane
With the end of the school year approaching, many students are evaluating their year and if their expectations from the beginning of the school year match with their experiences throughout the year. This is especially the case for freshmen who experienced all of the events at Timber Creek for the first time. “My favorite part of the year was the beginning of the school year because everyone was so excited for Homecoming and spirit week,” said freshman Samantha Franco. Franco’s opinion was one shared by many as Timber Creek’s Homecoming game, dance, and spirit week are almost nothing like events that happen throughout middle school. As many freshmen entered Timber Creek, they were met with different school pride experiences that worked to meet or exceed their expectations from after they exited middle school.
Franco’s expectations this year did not just stop at the events Timber Creek hosted. “I honestly thought high school was going to be much harder and I thought finding new friends was going to be difficult.” Entering high school can be a daunting thing as many students’ impressions of Timber Creek are formed before they even step foot in the school based on talk from siblings or friends who attend the school currently or already attended the school. Franco’s assumed impression of high school was that of a challenge unlike anything experienced in middle school and this worked to shape her high expectations of what would be expected of her. Fortunately, Franco’s expectations were met with a warm welcome of manageable high school classes and even more enjoyable aspects of Timber Creek. “High school is not that different than middle school but I like how there is more freedom in high school,” Franco said.
Many freshmen appreciate the new found freedom high school offers that Franco mentioned. One of these students is Madeleine Shanley. After her first year at Timber Creek, Shanley believes, “High school gives you more freedom so you can really feel independent and get to do new things by yourself.” Freshman year is the year to truly enjoy all of this new freedom as it the first year many will experience this freedom in its comparison to middle school and the year where that freedom is the most notable. For Shanley, this freedom helped ease her stress after creating her own expectations for Timber Creek. “Going into high school I was nervous since I didn’t know what to expect and was nervous since Timber Creek is a big school,” Shanley said. But since the beginning of the year, Shanley has fit right in with the Wolf Pack and is already excited for her sophomore year. According to Shanley, her expectations for next year include getting to meet and know even more people and having a great year overall.
While freshman year may not be the most exciting for everyone, it is certainly a whirlwind experience that brings students even closer to adulthood. The transition from middle school to high school brings about expectations students set for Timber Creek and for their first year on campus, many students found the experiences they had to be rewarding and not as intimidating as they may have thought. The end of the school year sees the current freshmen preparing for another year at Timber Creek and while they bring their sophomore expectations with them to the next grade, new incoming freshmen are already setting up their expectations for what is sure to be an interesting new experience.
