“Spartan strong” — a phrase created to encourage unity between students at White Station High, voiced by faculty to push students of all grades to treat their peers with respect and seek companionship. However, for those new to White Station, the purpose of this slogan may be more difficult to fulfill than those who hail from White Station Middle or White Station Elementary.
Students who did not previously attend White Station schools may find it harder to socialize with their peers and forge new bonds. One such student is Joselyn Aguilar (11), who at first did not want to attend White Station.
“Honestly, I was really scared of changing, like, areas because my old friends were all going to Colonial Middle School,” Aguilar said. “So, when I heard about White Station [Middle] my parents really wanted me to go because they heard it’s really good, but I was not sure. So, when they’d done the application to the school I was hoping it’d got rejected — which it did.”
Entering high school as a freshman can be daunting enough, and for some students, with the added pressure of entering an environment where they may feel like the odd one out, it can be even more challenging to tackle the social aspect of high school.
“It was very nerve-wracking because I had to kind of relearn everyone because you know in my middle school I transitioned from an elementary school to a middle school where everyone knew each other, and so I knew everyone in middle school,” Dalena Ngo (10) said. “But when I transitioned to high school I knew absolutely no one … I felt left out a lot … It was very hard especially to find people that I clicked with.”
Another way in which White Station Middle and White Station High are set apart from outside schools is the advanced classes that are offered. White Station administrators have made sure that higher level math and science courses are available options at both.
“It’s very competitive [at White Station High],” Ngo said. “At my middle school, they didn’t offer many hard courses like White Station Middle did.”
Despite the nerves that can develop from these circumstances, students belonging to this group are often able to find friends and develop a sense of belonging at Sparta. Most of this can be attributed to the welcoming environment that other students have made.
“This girl reached out to me on the third day [of school], and she complimented my earrings, and soon after we began talking she got me to join her friend group and that’s when I started becoming friends with a lot more [people],” Aguilar said.
Ultimately, the rules of respect that White Station High students are encouraged to adhere to play an important role in scenarios like these so that no one will feel left out.
“There’s a lot of different people here, so you’ll definitely find the people who you click with,” Ngo said. “I would give one piece of advice, and that piece of advice would be if you’re a new student go to open houses, and if you’re a freshman go to freshman orientation because that definitely helped me meet new people and get used to my environment.”