Walking through the doors of high school for the first time can be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences.
Senior Charlotte Welch remembers those first few days of freshman year as stressful. However, she now looks back on those days with fondness.
“The early days of my freshman year were anxiety inducing,” Welch said.
She explains how the positive environment allowed a stress-free introduction to high school.
“Every teacher always welcomed me, and I loved the challenge of high school that I had never felt previously at school,” Welch said.
The option to eat outside in the courtyard, having Tiger Den open in the morning until second hour and no construction were a few things that left seniors with a positive first impression.
“Tiger Den was perfect. It was priced for a high schooler aka cheap…I loved the option to eat outside, it was a nice refresher from being in a classroom all day.”
Freshman no longer receive the benefits of previous years.
They are now restricted to eating lunch inside the building rather than outside. The privilege of getting food from Tiger Den in the first few hours of the morning is now reduced to one day of the week until 7:10am.
Along with the incoming class, new construction projects such as the wall in the cafeteria have become a problem at EHS.
“I’m understanding of the construction [because] my dad works in that field,” Senior Marie Kaman said. “But it is undeniable that the wall is ugly and gives [the cafeteria] a prison-like feel.”
The wall in the cafeteria creates unwelcoming area that feels confining to students.
Inconveniences because construction were not what freshman Melanie Alexander had in mind for high school.
“When they started construction, I was in summer school, and I couldn’t go outside with my friends anymore [during] break.”
These changes could cause new students to have a difficult transition from middle to high school.
“[middle school] was definitely more welcoming and friendly…the teachers were way more flexible with the rules,” Freshman Avery Schwalb said.
She said that high school is stricter on rules, such the new ID and phone policies, that were more relaxed in middle school.
Our seniors did not experience these amplified rules as freshman.
The atmosphere in the building has certainly changed within the last four years. The freshman experience is no longer what it used to be.