On Monday, August 28, students at Allderdice began their 2023-2024 school year. Every school year comes with a new adventure and a whole new class of students. As a senior, I wasn’t particularly excited for the school year, and I was long tired of the annual first day of school picture my mom makes me take. But for the class of 2027, they are just getting started.
We have all had the classic freshman experience; getting lost finding the first floor annex, trying to find toilet paper in the bathroom, and most of all, figuring out how to work your VPN. I get it, highschool can suck, so that’s why I’m here to help! This week I conducted interviews asking students in the senior class what advice they have for freshmen beginnin their journey at Allderdice. As I went around the hallways and classrooms to ask the class of 2024 questions, everyone had a different perspective on the best ways to start your highschool career on the right foot.
“Establish a good relationship with your teachers, that will get you far”- Nina Kellar, class of 2024.
Creating a good bond with your teachers, especially starting freshman year, will make the years ahead flow smoother and provide you with guidance. Don’t be afraid to meet with your teachers and discuss the challenges you are being faced with – they are there to help! As intimidating as it may be, creating relationships with your teachers will help you so much which is something I wish I had known my freshman year. For example, my sophomore year I took Mr. Broderick’s English class, which is still one of my favorite classes throughout high school. Now I am hisTeacher’s Assistant. Along with Mr. Broderick, I also became close with Señor Taylor. Señor has been so helpful to me and many of my friends, and we know he will always be there if we are ever going through a hard time.
“Be close with your counselors now, it will be useful for college.”- Anonymous, class of 2024.
Along with being close with your teachers it is also important to create a bond with your counselors. When starting your freshman year, everyone feels like they have so much time before they even start to think about college, let alone the application process. I think I can speak for the whole senior class when I say that the college application process is daunting and we wish we had prepared for this earlier. The one thing that could make this process easier is establishing a good relationship with your counselor. Being close with your counselor is also important all throughout highschool and not just for college. Counselors are instrumental in determining what classes one gets and, if the students make the effort, they work very hard to make each students’ schedule work best for their needs.
“Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and make new friends so you can find your niche”. -Beatrice Kuhn, class of 2024.
Allderdice being such a large school, with a student population of 1,416, you are instantly immersed in so many different cultures and familial backgrounds. It will take no time to find “your people”. My freshman year, I signed up for the lacrosse team and I have formed so many valuable friendships because of it. While it may be intimidating to join a sport, especially if you have never played it before, I would highly encourage just joining any club or sport you are interested in (if you are interested in playing lacrosse this spring, go see Ms. Kramer on the 4th floor)! Along with sports and clubs, as I said before, there is such a large variety of students here at Dice, and building bonds with your peers will make the years ahead of you so much smoother. When I started my freshman year, I didn’t know anyone; now I have had the same group of bestfriends since sophomore year and I honestly don’t know what I would do without them!
Overall, the best advice the senior class can provide you with, is the advice we wish we had known as we started our own journey through highschool is to not be afraid to put yourself out there, ask for help, be apart of extracurricular activities, and most of all, make the best of the next four years, because they go by so fast!
