Freshman, freshman, junior, senior
The class of 2025 faces new and oddly familiar challenges in their first year at the Upper Campus
Sophomores Luis Adame, Jamison Shea and Jiji Thorne walk through the hallways of the Upper Campus. As sophomores, this is their first year in the building, which makes them feel like freshman for a second year in a row.
September 27, 2022
A sophomore walks through the Upper Campus on the first day of school and can’t find his class. With two minutes left in the passing period, he asks a teacher to point him in the right direction and is able to get to class on time. But he is worried he won’t make it to his next class either.
As the Class of 2025 moves from the Freshman Campus to the Upper Campus they face the challenge of going from one campus to another and learning a whole new school.
This year’s sophomores were the first to have the Freshman Campus all to themselves. Now that they are at the Upper Campus, they have to learn a completely new school, along with having to work with and be in the hallways with juniors and seniors.
During the first week of the school year, sophomores managed to find their way around the school with few difficulties.
“The first week wasn’t too bad, I managed to get to all my classes on time and I never got lost,” says Luis Adame.
“It takes some time to adapt,” Jamison Shea adds. “But, once you get a handle on stuff and know where all your classes are, it starts to get easier by the day.”
Teachers are also impacted by this change. Leah Stengel is an English I and College and Career Writing teacher who travels between campuses.
Stengel says, “I had no clue where I was going and I could empathize with how incoming Sophomore class probably felt.”
Being a new student at a new school isn’t very hard, but with the crowded hallways and not knowing where you’re going, it can be frustrating.
“Being in a new building isn’t all that difficult,” Jiji Thorne says. “It is difficult to make it to class because of the crowded hallways in terms of people, and it’s a little hard to be around so many unfamiliar faces.”
Being around older kids can be hard to adjust to. Sophomores have not had to share their school with anyone older than them since 2020.
“It’s different and weird to be back with other people older than us,” Jia Shah says. “It can feel intimidating, but our class needs these upperclassmen so we have [someone] to look up to and eventually fill their shoes.”
Though this is a hard transition, the sophomores have Connections Crew leaders to help them out with homework, and find their way around the school. Connections Crew leaders have also connected the sophomores to the school by giving them options of clubs to join and playing games with them to make them feel more comfortable.
“Our Connections Crew leaders in AIM have been very welcoming and have supported us throughout the first week of school,” Grace Hunt says.
MCHS has also hosted events to help with the transition from the Freshman Campus to the Upper Campus. One example being the sophomore picnic, which gave students another opportunity to meet new people and feel welcome at the Upper Campus.
As the sophomore finds their way to class they find it easier and easier to get around the school and get to classes on time thanks to the help of teachers and upper classmen.
