Everyone experiences the first day of school differently. Some are excited, while others feel nervousness and anxiety. Then there are those who are more apathetic if anything, which may seem hard for others to understand, because let’s face it, there’s a lot to be worried about: new school, the stress of having more than one teacher, locker troubles, unfamiliar people — it’s a pretty big shift from your regular old elementary school. But we all manage to get by somehow.
Hatzic Secondary, along with other schools in Mission, has recently pulled up Grade 7 students and now goes by the name of Hatzic Middle Secondary School. One would think that with such a big jump from elementary to high school with seniors would be daunting, but when asked, the Grade 7s seem to be taking it quite well.
“I was really excited,” says Rebecca Khela, a Grade 7 student at Hatzic. “All my friends were going and my sister was there, too.”
Cade Kennickell, however, admits to feeling more uneasy about going to high school after moving here from Abbotsford. “I was excited for it, but I was also kind of scared because of all the bigger kids. I was more nervous because I just started taking the bus so I didn’t know what bus to get on, so I had to talk to people and ask. But I was excited that we have bigger lockers and that we have a cafeteria.”
Being a new student is always hard, no matter what school you’re transferring to, but Cade takes it all in stride and even gives advice to other students facing a change in environment.
“I was kind of scared because I didn’t know anyone, but I was kind of excited because it was a new school. The easiest way to make new friends is to make one friend and then meet all their friends,” he adds with a grin.
Compared to one’s first day of high school, a student’s last first day of school is more bittersweet than anything. Sophia Favero, who will be graduating this June, reports that her last first day of high school was, “Not as scary. I was half-excited to start something new and sad that everything was or will be ending.”
When asked her favourite thing about Hatzic in the five years she’s spent here, Sophia responds without hesitation. “Love the teachers. They’re extremely helpful and have close relationships with the students.”
One would think there would be some sort of friction between the Grade 7s and 12s, but they are very indifferent to each other. Many of the older students remember that they were younger once too, and are rather forgiving of their antics. “They’re just in that age of maturity – we all go through it,” tells Sophia.
High school may seem tough at times, with the homework, the struggle of keeping up one’s grades, and juggling sports with school and other electives, but it’s the place where we begin shaping ourselves to the person we want to be and, hopefully, will become in the future. Hatzic Secondary has an excellent learning environment and is a great place to go to school. It has memories galore, and we for one know how much we will miss this place when we graduate.
By Samantha Balliet and Aimee Martineau