Everyone knows how scary high school can be for incoming freshmen. We are either afraid to get shoved in a locker or to get lost. We feel extremely vulnerable and helpless. It doesn’t help when the older students pick on us because we are younger.
It may be understandable that the older students will occasionally make the freshmen do most of the work because we’re new to the school, even though we are still adjusting to the new surroundings of our new school. However, freshmen have a lot more to deal with than you may know; we don’t want to have to deal with older students harassing us because we’re younger. Even though we are the youngest and newest to the school, it doesn’t make sense for us to do all of the dirty work. Just because a player kicks a football too far, doesn’t mean that a freshman has to go and get it for the team.
Even though a vast majority of the upperclassmen had to chase the balls too, it would make our freshmen lives a little easier if we didn’t have to pursue such menial tasks. With all the problems we are already dealing with, we expect that we won’t have to suffer because of an older student’s laziness.
Also, just because the upperclassmen have been here longer, doesn’t mean it’s right to make fun of the freshmen because we are new to the school. It’s not our fault that we were born later than they were, and therefore it isn’t fair to make fun of us for something that is out of our control.
I’m not trying to make it sound as though all seniors, juniors and sophomores are bad. Link Crew leaders are far from it. They may say things to tease you for being a freshman, but it’s in a carefree, friendly manner. They speak in a way that is not designed to make you feel small, insignificant or helpless. In fact, it is rare that leaders will even say things that make us feel like an insignificant speck or nor part of the school. Instead, they attempt to build up our confidence, in order to help us succeed.
Even though the leaders encourage and help us, we still have to experience the transition to all the hard work we are now expected to do. Teachers were nice on the first day but it was down to business the next class period.
Above all that, freshmen are just starting to get up earlier in the morning. Now we are worrying about getting to bed at least an extra 30 minutes earlier in order to still get a good amount of sleep so that we can succeed the next day.
However, there are more things besides schoolwork we have to worry about. Since we are just beginning to feel like adults, we now are beginning to worry about all of our relationships and friends.
At this time, some of us are just beginning to date and be comfortable around the opposite sex. Not all of us are comfortable enough to start a relationship yet either. Now we have to worry about how we appear to others in order to begin dating also. As you can see, the hormones really aren’t helping to make our lives any easier either. We really don’t want to have to deal with some senior or junior harassing us just because we’re younger. The older students should know what it is like, so it doesn’t make sense that they would carry on a tradition like that.
Every student who is older than the freshmen knows what the freshmen perspective is like. Since they do, maybe it would make sense that they should think what we are going through the next time it is decided to ‘harass the freshmen.’