High school can be a tough transition for many. A new school, teachers and social environment can be hard to adjust to. Freshman and sophomore year are the prime years for building connections, joining clubs and figuring out future plans. However, getting these opportunities can be tricky if a person’s high school journey occurs at multiple schools.
As the fast-paced high school environment and the classroom locations become more familiar, some students -–by choice or by force— have to transfer schools. This abrupt change can cause them to feel like everyone is a step forward while they are back to square one of understanding their high school environment.
“I went to East [High School], right up the road [for] my freshman year,” Ibett Castro (11) said. “[Now] I’ve been at White Station for two years — my sophomore year and junior year — and hopefully [I’ll be here] my senior year.”
Moving to a new environment can be frightening yet exhilarating. The possibilities are endless but can easily be intimidating due to rumors and expectations of the school. To some, they are not an issue since they already have friends to support them through the transition.
“I had heard that this school was very academic, but I also heard crazy things,” Castro said. “I came here regardless because I wanted to be with my friends.”
The transition to a new school can really challenge students due to many variables such as adapting to a new schedule and new teachers.
“At East it was all about academics, the majority of our classes were just STEM classes and so when I came to White Station I was really hoping that they’d also be academically well-off,” Castro said. “Then I came here and [the academics] were not what I was expecting. I feel like [the classes] are a bit harder. The work isn’t harder, it’s just the teachers [that] are a bit harder.”
Sometimes, change can just be a new environment. Having an open environment can be very positive for the student as sometimes the constant pressure for success can be very draining.
“I think here [at WSHS] it’s really chill; [it’s] more [socially] active, so if you’re good at being social, you’d do pretty well here,” Castro said. “At [East High School,] everyone is just in their own little bubble, trying to focus on making it through their classes.”
A great challenge to overcome comes with dealing with the transition to a new schedule. A schedule can be seen as crucial to maintaining a perfect balance between learning and applying the curriculum while successfully managing the work for each class. The ability to adapt quickly to each class and its demands aids in a smoother transition.
“The amount of work that they give here is crazy but it’s understandable [since] we have a regular schedule, and I used to have a block schedule,” Castro said. “So it was like an hour-long class with two assignments that were assigned every two days and here it’s like two assignments every single day [for seven classes]. If you are not fast at keeping up with your work, you’ll get really behind here.”
Sometimes, the distance from one’s old school is more than just across the street, but rather a whole city. But what happens when one is now states away from everyone you once knew?
“I used to go to Waller High School around Houston, Texas,” Jayden Haynes (11) said. “I only went there for my freshman year. The workload for Waller was a lot less than what it is at White Station.”
Like Castro, Haynes also feels like the school’s different schedule removes the opportunities for improvement and growth and instead only amplifies the stress for students. Limiting the amount of homework or offering students a block schedule makes classes more approachable and accessible for many students.
“I almost never had homework when I was a freshman,” Haynes said. “That’s partially because we had an advisory every day, which was 30 minutes, so I would just do homework then … The homework wasn’t extremely hard to do, but [it was] actually things we learned in class and not something new that we had to figure out on our own.”
While White Station High School (WSHS) stands out primarily due to its strong academic reputation, achievements and outstanding educators, some students, like Haynes, who have gained experience from both WSHS and Waller High School, believe there is room for improvement. Similarly, many transfer students feel that teachers are constantly pushing their students to have a grind mindset,which hinder their abilities and overall growth potential.,“I think teachers here just need to take more responsibility and [place] some of the blame on themselves instead of throwing it all on the students,” Haynes said. “In Texas, if we were doing bad, some of our teachers might have a one-on-one or just ask what’s going on, and they [would] just be more involved in our lives. The work has definitely been stressful [here at WSHS,] but I’m very lucky to [be] in White Station because of the friends and opportunities I’ve made. At the end of the day, they are here to make us better.”
