Aurelia Garcia

P&G reporter Meliah Stevenson interviews Grace Waledy (8) about how she feels about high school and what she is excited about. “I’m going to have a much better experience in high school than middle school,” Grace said. She wants to have better classes and more friends when going into high school.

As an eighth grader, I was nervous about switching to high school due to the increased number of people. Going from around 550 students to over 2,000 can be overwhelming.

Jumpstart day is a day for freshmen to get used to the size of the school before the official first day. Only freshmen are at Hickman on Jumpstart Day, so when they arrive for the first official day and meet 1500 other students, it can still be overwhelming.

The eighth graders this year seemed to be indifferent about going into freshman year. 

When asked if she was excited, Marley Delgado said, “No. It’s just, you know.”

Lilly Aubuchon was similarly unenthusiastic. 

She said she would “probably not” enjoy being in high school.

Despite this, other students had some things they were looking forward to.

“Friends, I guess,” Graham Rice said.

Grace was also excited about the people in high school.

“Meeting new people,” Grace Waledy said.

In contrast, Lilly was excited about the activities in high school.

“[I’m excited for] sports teams,” Lilly said.

Some students felt apprehensive about the big change.

“I’m definitely nervous about making friends… I’m just trying to get my credits,” Lilly said.