Freshman year is not what I expected

Opinion story by Morgan Hubert – Staff Reporter

 

As a freshman at Lee’s Summit North, I came expecting an experience much different than what I received.

   I had dreamed about growing up and going to high school when I was younger. I had a grand idea in my mind that I would love it and it would be the best years of my life. I thought that I would hang out with my friends all the time, have a ton of freedom and love all of my classes, but everything has changed now that I am here.

   Going into freshman year I had no clue that I would have to start off my high school experience with online school, eventually, go into hybrid learning, and then go four days a week. I had no clue that I would have to wear a mask while being at school and not be attending school with all the students at Lee’s Summit North. 

   At first, I was not able to see most of my friends because they had to show up in the second group. Now that we are back to four days a week, I see my friends more than I did, but now that there is no Bronco Time, I still do not get to see them as much because there is no time in the day to socialize with them. One of the best parts of the school days is seeing my friends and now I do not get that long to do so. Covid-19 has changed high school expectations and experiences for everyone. Now that the LSR7 district is offering online school completely, many of my close friends have moved online or are planning to. 

This year has definitely been a rough start to the four years that I will be here, but I am pushing through the struggles. I am still working hard in school and trying my best to learn through these times. During the hybrid, it was mentally exhausting because I was so overwhelmed with the work that I was having to do. Every assignment was due at 11:59 pm and if it was not submitted, you would get counted off. It was hard to keep up with the work as well as keep track of every single assignment. It felt like the same day over and over again and that was hard. Now that we are four days a week, it is a lot easier but I still sometimes get stressed with everything going on and on Wednesdays, I still have work to do for all of my classes and I still have problems losing track.

   I sometimes hear upperclassmen talking about how they hate the new class schedule and how they want the “real” and “first” one back. I always wonder what was so great about it because I have never got to experience it. I have never got to see how high school really is. I have not got to see what the original schedule was like and why students liked it so much better. I hope to get to experience that some time and see what high school is really about.