Summertime is coming closer, and the stress of finals is enveloping everyone. Although it is a time of great stress and anxiety, it is also a time of happiness and excitement for summer. Freshmen are ready to become sophomores, sophomores are becoming juniors, and juniors are dreading becoming the college-focused seniors. The school year of projects, essays, and tests are finally coming to an end.

Being a freshman in high school is very different from being in middle school. Middle school teachers would always try to prepare you for high school and warn how everything you do affects you for high school. They want to build you up to the harshness of high school, and they want to help you succeed.

“They didn’t prepare us properly. The middle school teachers tried to prepare us, but they couldn’t. The things they said weren’t completely accurate about high school. They made things sound different than it really is. We were prepared for the wrong things. For example, the things they taught us for how to write essays was completely different. We didn’t really use any techniques we learned in middle school in high school. We would use dropped quotes instead of IDEA. We are taught that the things we learned in middle school are wrong now,” said Ellie Long (9).

However, others find that they have been building up their education and growing upon every year. “School overall prepared me in the sense to take things seriously. I take things seriously and get things done because I was serious in middle school,” said Madelyn Woodrow (9).

Some may find freshman year a harsh slap in the face of what the next seven years of high school and college will be like. Others enjoy it thoroughly and find themselves opening up more, becoming more involved, and pursuing the passions they always hoped to.

“It was stressful but fun. The teachers here are very good, and most of them made me do well in my classes. First semester was harder because I was still figuring out what the good ways to study were, but now it is easier,” said Woodrow.

Sophomore year is a time of great expectation for freshmen. It is going to be different from the introductory year of freshman, but it will not be as stressful as junior or senior year. It is the slow settling year into high school where things aren’t new and exciting more. However, that doesn’t mean that sophomore year has to be boring or less important than any of the others.

The end of the school year is coming, and many find themselves setting goals for next school year. It could be a school goal, the goal to become more involved, or even a personal one. “I hope to be more adapted to the way the school works, work with it better, and cope with hard classes and stress, and be more successful,” said Long.

The school year is ending and with it comes anticipation for summer and the next fall. It is time for everyone to give up their spots as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors to the incoming class. Freshmen year is a different experience than middle school. Here are some tips from a few freshmen to incoming freshmen:

1. Always get a good night’s sleep before tests, especially finals. This may seem like a very standard tip, but many teachers strongly recommend this. Huffington Post says that students who get seven hours of sleep every night during exams get about 10 percent higher grades than students who didn’t sleep a lot.
2. Finals week is difficult; it really is. Teachers try to tell you to review well in advance, but it doesn’t really work out when you have other tests a week before. Just try to review during the week of finals and any weekends you have spare time. Check Rogerhub final grade calculator; it helps.
3. “Your freshman year does impact your life even if it doesn’t seem so because colleges look at your total GPA and working hard is very crucial,” said Long.
4. “In order to do well, you need to find a good way to study, that helped me. Find a study method that works for you,” said Woodrow.
5. “It may sound cliché, but be friends with people who truly make you feel good about yourself because you don’t want to establish relationships that will have a negative impact on your life,” said Long.