With summer’s tantalizing breath leaving students irritable, students had mixed feelings about the new fall semester of school at USC. Some were excited to see their friends every day. Others dreaded the continuous barrage of homework. A special few looked forward to doing their homework. However, it is clear that the school year, which is now steadily underway, brought changes to all of the students’ routines.
School can be stressful, especially upon its advent. Before the year even started, kids had to purchase supplies and finish up summer homework. Many had to practice for school sports as early as July. This explains why the Family Education Network wrote, “When the serenity of summer abruptly gives way to the frenzy of fall, it’s easy for parents and children to take on too much and become overwhelmed” (www.school.familyeducation.com).
Furthermore, a large number of sophomores and juniors dreaded returning to school because of the difficulty of their new years. For current sophomores, the relaxed feel of freshman year was over, and their noses were back to the grindstone. Juniors and seniors not only faced more difficult honors and AP classes, juniors also had to take SAT’s, ACT’s, and PSSA’s while Seniors had to complete college applications.
Seniors faced the additional challenge of fighting senioritis, which Time magazine wrote “attacks high-achieving, average, and struggling students alike.”
A perfect example of this increase in difficulty is junior, Nathan Lachell, who described junior year: “It’s difficult because of the higher level classes.”
On the contrary, some students have been excited about school for their own reasons. Some seniors are looking forward to school because now they often have fewer classes and more electives. Other seniors are happy because they are going to become captains and presidents of clubs and sports teams. Furthermore, the senior cruise, a chance to be in the homecoming court, and the prom dance are just around the corner.
Senior Brent Heard also said, “[I] was looking forward to school starting so that it will end sooner; then I] will be able to go to college sooner.”
Finally, teachers came back to school. While students may not have been eager to return, most teachers were quite excited. For example, German teacher Frau Baird said, “Yes, it’s always exciting to see the students that I’ve had before come back for another year.”