Freshmen year can be scary, terrifying even, especially if you’re coming from a smaller middle school like a lot of people. The transition from eighth grade to high school is never easy, but there are a few ways to make it easier on yourself. One is to make sure you keep up with your studies academically, despite how easy it could be to throw it to the wayside to make friends. Freshmen year, though easy, is the foundation for the rest of high school. Plus, it’s hard to focus on making friends when you’re too caught up in the anxiety of getting a bad grade. Another helpful hint is to try and make good impressions on every teacher you come across, even if they’re just a substitute. Chances are, you’ll end up having them somewhere down the line, so it’s better if they know you as polite, rather than a tiresome troublemaker. A final academic tip is to avoid blaming teachers for bad test grades. Even if you really believe it’s their fault, you can’t go pounding on their door demanding they change things. The best thing to do is try even harder in their class. It’s a good habit to keep for the entirety of your high school and college careers.Now that you’ve got your academic situation under control, you can move on to the fun part: making friends. It’s a lot simpler than you probably think. As you go on into freshmen year, you’ll become closer to certain people in your class naturally, usually due to group work or seating arrangements. Not to mention the friends you will make if you take advantage of the copious amounts of clubs and sports Matignon has to offer! If you join a club for something you love, you’ll be surrounded by people who share the same passion you have, meaning you’ll already have a few things in common with them! Making friends should be the least of your worries.
By Gina Petraglia
THE CAMBRIDGE MATIGNON MIRROR 