Finals are almost here, Tigers! Photo courtesy of sophomore Roslyn Risner.

  Freshmen are approaching their first finals. How are San Luis Obispo High School’s youngest Tigers feeling? 

  High School is a huge change from middle school and it’s important to make sure the adjustment is going well, so Expressions selected some ninth graders to check up on! 

Expressions: What thoughts do you have on finals? 

Freshman Ethan Ortega: The final[s] will not be too hard but definitely not too easy.  

Freshman Taylor Wakeman: I feel like everybody gets this way, this sort of before test anxiety, where you’re just like, I don’t really know what to do. I think it will be manageable though. 

Freshman Natalie Seybold: I’m a little nervous, because I’ve never had finals before, and they can affect your grades a lot. 

Expressions: How is this year going so far? 

Wakeman: I’m actually really loving it! I think it was kind of an accident, but I got myself into a very lucky predicament, I’ve made lots of friends, and I am genuinely having a really great experience. The secret is band. 

Seybold: I’m pretty good, it’s very different from middle school. I like it a lot better, my classes are really nice. 

Expressions: What’s your favorite class? 

Ortega: I feel really good about my classes the best in my opinion is math with Mr. Gomes 

Wakeman: Definitely band right now. I had a lot of fun at band camp before school started, and I made a lot of friends there, so it’s a really fun class!
Seybold: I think it’s either ASL or art, the teachers and students in those classes are really cool. 

Expressions: Anything different about high school then middle school? 

Ortega: There are way more choices in the classes you want to take.
Wakeman: People are a lot nicer in high school, they uplift and support each other a lot more. Students are just generally nicer people in high school compared to middle school. 

Seybold: The people just act different. There was like a lot of unsaid stigma in middle school, and everyone is much more themselves here, and I like it a lot. 

Expressions: Are you involved in any extracurriculars? If so, what are they?

Ortega:  I play football for the freshman team, go Tigers!
Wakeman: I’ve been trying to join some clubs, but the schedules aren’t quite lining up. Later in the year I also plan to join the softball team. 

Seybold: I do swimming as a club sport, and I plan to be on the swim team [at SLOHS] in third trimester. 

Expressions: Do you have any advice for a middle schooler?

Ortega: Keep going and do your homework!

Wakeman: You should get involved as early as you can. If you want to join band, start learning an instrument right now! And definitely go to band camp the week before school, you’ll meet a lot of friends and have a lot of fun! You’ll also get more comfortable with the campus, which is really nice as a freshman.

Seybold: Just be patient, because everything changes a lot. There are always big changes from middle school to high school. 

  High school is a huge change from middle school, but for many it is a welcome one. Middle school is a turbulent time and everyone is just trying to figure themselves out. While high school is much more difficult academically, and there are certainly new issues to worry about, middle school is over and for many freshman Tigers, that is fantastic.