We asked two local students to talk about their experiences at school. One student just graduated from high school and one is just starting. Here's what they said:
Julia Smiljanic
High school is a frightening time at first because no one knows where they will fit in.
TV gives us a false sense of what high school will be like, and that it will fully prepare us for “real life.” I think most of us who have been through high school believe the high schools of TV to be a caricature.
On the first day in eighth grade, high school is scary because the school is big and you wonder how can I possibly find my classes?
You are surrounded by a sea of people who are taller than you and seem to know exactly where they are going as they rush by. After six hours, you have made it through the first day; days turn to weeks and then to months and high school seems a little easier. Then the new question becomes “How will I ever graduate or know what I want to do in life?”
There are few people who go through school knowing what they want and striving solely for that. I wasn’t one of those people. I changed my mind so many times that I lost count. For me, the best part of high school was the last few years because I found my niche. I joined the yearbook crew and then became co-editor for two years. I volunteered as part of Youth LAB (organized by Family Services of the North Shore).
I believe that the main factor that determines when the best part of high school is definitely depends on when you find your niche, which is different for everyone. Try a bit of everything, even things you don’t expect to like because your niche could be somewhere that you wouldn’t think to look.
The most important advice I have to give is two things: first, don’t take high school too seriously. It will be over in the blink of an eye, and in the end, the things that will shape you the most are the ones you pushed yourself to try, and all those chances that you never thought you would take, the things that you loved and became passionate about.
Second, it’s okay to not know what you want to be or do after high school. No matter when you decide, you have tons of time to figure it out, and then change your mind half a dozen more times. Of course good grades are important, however the experiences you choose to take part in will be the things that will shape you the most. High school really is like a big fish pond.
As students, there has been a time for each and every one of us to feel like just another little fish in that school. I think that is probably one of the hardest times.
However, with being in high school, so many more options and opportunities become available through the years. What you choose to pursue, along with the choices you make, will captain the outcome of your high school experience.
Julia Smiljanic graduated from West Vancouver secondary in June and is set to attend college in September.
Gia Da Roza
As students, we go through eight years of elementary school where we learn and grow until we are finally ready to begin the next stage of our education and of our lives.
Last June, I reached the point where I was ready to embark on the next part of my journey: I am going to high school.
Like most elementary students, I have spent years wondering about high school. This causes a great deal of anticipation about what it will be like when I am finally able to call myself a secondary student. As the oldest child in my family, all my prior knowledge about high school stems from a long list of movies that depict high school as either an adolescent prison or one big party.
I’m pretty sure that the truth falls somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. However, one thing I do know is that high school is going to be very different from the eight years I spent in elementary school.
In elementary school, I always had one primary teacher and a smaller, easier-to-navigate, group of peers. In high school, I’ll be surrounded by a large and complex group of peers who I’ll have to interact with as I move between many different classes and teachers. Also, as one of my friends helpfully pointed out to me, we’ll be the “kindergarteners” of the school, having to deal with being at the bottom of the food chain in an environment full of older students.
We’ll have the responsibility to study on our own time and make social decisions that won’t undermine our academic performance. This responsibility is frightening.
Personally, I will come into Grade 8 having to balance academics, sports and friendships. I am already committed to the basketball academy, which will have me training two to three times a week. I am also nervous about the new expectations regarding academics, as well as the new people that I’ll be introduced to.
I hope that I will be able to handle all of my commitments successfully, remembering always to think before I act. I also want to have fun. I want to make many friends, and have a high school experience that is not only good, but great. The possibility that I might achieve this goal is more than enough to counter the fear I face surrounding these new responsibilities.
For better or for worse, I feel that I am ready to assume the mantle of a high school student. When I walk through the doors of West Vancouver secondary in September, I will be both scared and excited. I will go into high school ready to bear responsibility for my actions, work hard and have fun.
Hopefully I’ll learn something along the way.
Gia Da Roza graduated from Grade 7 at Irwin Park elementary in June. She is heading to West Vancouver secondary in September.
From Julia to Gia . . .
We asked Grade 8 student Gia Da Roza if she had one question about high school for graduating senior Julia Smiljanic. Here is her question and Julia’s response:
Gia: How did your choices in Grade 8 influence the rest of your high school experience?
Julia: I don’t think my choices in Grade 8 had a huge influence on the rest of my high school experience.
In Grade 8 I did not know where I fit and it took me a long time to figure that out.
I am really lucky, though, because I had some really good friends who stuck by me even when I lost my way. I think the most important thing that you are building in eighth grade is your study habits.
Tests get harder and longer than they were in elementary school, so it’s important to learn how to make studying work for you and how to stay motivated because there will always be something that is “more fun” or “more interesting” than staring at those science or social studies notes.
