INCOMING!

What It’s Like to Be a Freshman at Mishawaka High School

By: Abigail Franklin

If someone wrote a completely honest welcome speech for all the freshmen entering MHS this year, it would probably sound something like this:

“Welcome Freshmen! I hope you had a really great summer, because this next year is going to be rough! None of the upperclassmen want you to be here, even the sophomores who were literally freshmen three months ago, and you will be dissed by them over and over, even if you are not a troublemaker. There’s nothing really that positive we can say about that, so remember, there’s only one rule you need to follow as a 9th grader: survive!” Then all the sophomores, juniors and seniors would give a standing ovation and all the freshmen would stand around, a little bit confused, wondering what in the world they were doing at that school.

Selena Garcia, a 9th grader at Mishawaka High School, said, “I think the hardest thing is balancing school and other activities. I’m involved in a lot of school activities and it’s hard to find time to study.” Another freshman, Fadil Al madawhi, agreed, “The hardest thing is balancing between theater, homework, and fun. I think that the work is a bit constant. There's always some type of homework to work on or finish.”

9th grader Persie Hershberger said, “I think that incoming freshmen next year should definitely be warned of the crowded hallways. I know I was definitely caught off-guard by that. I know it would be crowded, but not this crowded.” The same concern was echoed by Garcia and Al madawhi.

Joining the halls of MHS can be intimidating.

Crowded hallways and balancing everyday schoolwork with relationships and extracurricular activities isn’t the only pressure that can come with being anybody at Mishawaka High School. According to the SCM:Mishawaka High School home page, approximately 1325 students attend MHS. That’s about 331 students per grade. Whatever grade you happen to be in, there are about 994 students who aren’t in your grade - and none of those numbers include teachers. With all those people everywhere you go, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed - and peer criticism doesn’t help with that.

Being a freshman carries with it a very unique perspective - and a ridiculous amount of pressure. The lockers are tiny, the seniors are huge, and the hallways are jam packed in every direction. Add all that to the million flights of stairs, the new online pass system, and the more in-depth classwork, and you might be able to understand why so many freshmen's heads are spinning. The problem is that so many upperclassmen (seniors, juniors), and sophomores act like freshmen are just a bothersome problem. While this has the potential to be true in some cases, it does not erase the fact that all of these students were freshmen once, too.