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Martina Wood Mrs. Babcock English 9 Honors October 4, 2012 Would You Be Scared of High School? Fears are a common feeling amongst all people, regardless of age. These horrific feelings mentally strain individuals as the emotion over whelm them, causing them to panic. Because these issues are so significant, many people run away from them. Once they start running, they will never stop. However, if people never face their fears, they will never get anywhere in life, because facing what frightens a person makes them stronger. The night before the first day of their freshman year, new students are panicing about their fears of high school which may become a reality the very next morning. Rising ninth graders dread the environment that awaits them. Getting lost in the new building terrifies these young adults. Because high school is so much larger than middle school, it is common for students to become anxious about losing their way. This gigantic building is filled with numerous hallways that are not in numerical order resulting in befuddled students, roaming the hallways in search for their class. While wondering the halls, they begin to socialize following their friends to the wrong class; as a result, these students end up at the wrong destination, not knowing where they are. Because of them losing their way due to this change of atmosphere these novices to high school are petrified of being tardy. The labyrinth of halls force pupils to attempt shortcuts to their next class which end up making them late as the route taken is not really short. As all students experiment with alternate ways between classes they discover that their peers are doing the same thing, which lead to hectic overcrowded hallways. Once the

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bell rings and an individual are still in the hallway, he or she must proceed to the tardy window, which makes him or her even later to class. In addition to coping with the new surrounding s these former middle schoolers face academic struggles as well. A result of their scholarly anxiety, the teachers effect on the classroom horrifies these nave pupils. New teachers, who are in some cases mean, have new rules and regulations along with a new teaching style which require students to adjust immediately. Some of these teachers automatically expect their students to know things they have now been taught which causes students to mentally shutdown. When the pupils become frustrated, they fear the teacher will not slow down which will make them scared to ask for assistance. Along with the instructors impact upon the students, scholastic stress seeps into their minds and contaminates their outlook on the first day of school. Rising ninth graders discover that managing their time is a very strenuous ability needed for success. This important because as the curriculum gets harder as the year progresses and more studying is demanded as more homework is assigned. Because of the larger workload, students cannot afford to be absent or tardy as this will ensure they fall behind. Besides the difficulties endured in the classroom, new students also are intimidated by social conflicts that may surround them. Making new friends creates problems for freshman when interacting with their peers. Being that students are unfamiliar with their environment, and some of their former friends attend different schools they are left all alone in unfamiliar surroundings. Because they are in a new educational environment without their peers, they are forced to meet the standards of the judgmental people of high school. Based on their appearances, determine who they sit with, associate with, and who they become friends with. These upcoming freshmen also have to deal with the reality that the people they considered the

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closest to them in middle school, may be the same people who they consider two-faced in high school. Along with phoney people they come across, they also have to deal with the rumors they start, betrayal, and jealousy. Due to the fears of gaining new acquaintances, rising ninth graders dread possible struggles with their peers which impact their social lives. Another worry for these former middle schoolers is in the fact that they may have upperclassmen in their class. Just the thought of being fourteen with eighteen and nineteen year olds in their classes, frighten them. Peer pressure is another thing that scares them. They begin to think they will not have a mind of their own and that they will be forced into doing things. In society today, there is so much bullying going on that it is not shocking to hear that a rising high school student is worried he or she may be terrorized for the littlest things. Rising ninth graders minds race with, with all the worst possible scenarios, the night before the first day of high school, because they are so nervous. With them being new to high school and not knowing where they are suppose to go the thoughts of them going to the tardy window and getting a detention is a very horrific, vivid, mental image. Coming from middle school, most of the rising freshmen are not going to be able to deal with the rigorous workload, which causes them to stress out and mentally shutdown, which means their grades will drop. Also these former middle schoolers worry about how their social lives will change. They are concerned about how they will be treated and if their circle will change. Going to high school can bring some good experiences and some bad ones high school can also change people for the better or worse, and the thought of these changes torment the minds of these upcoming freshman.