The horrible third day that wasn't
By Alexis Sullivan
5th hour
The thought of finally entering high school (the place where boys had real facial hair and people drove cars to school) seemed like the biggest feat in my short life when I first entered ninth grade.
I spent the whole month of August on the phone with friends discussing where we were going to meet on the first day in September, what school supplies we were going to buy and how we were going to style our hair.
Since I was going to a school with my volleyball warm up clothes, because we had a game after school and we were required to wear them. I was relieved that clothes weren't an added issue to my list of worries at the time.
I woke up that fateful first day of school at 4 a.m. I was so excited and nervous that I could no longer stay in bed and besides, the extra three hours game me time to perfect my practiced walk, and how I was going to say “hi” to new acquaintances.
Even these extra hours of preparation got me ready for the new world I was about to enter.
Looking back at the summer before high school, I realize I spent more time worrying about the social aspect of high school than the academic aspect.
Of course, I had asked numerous older friends if high school consisted of a lot of “hard work.”
Their answer was always, “Nah, it's a breeze,” but having actually entered the classroom on my first day, I realized it was more of a desert storm in comparison to the “puff of air” that had been previously described.
I was bombarded with sheets to sign, a list of required school supplies, yearly academic lay outs and the same lecture in every class that consisted of priceless phrases such as, “Your life starts now,” and “Get ready to smell the coffee and start working!”
I sat in that first classroom that day regretting my lack of summer academic preparation and wishing I could return to the safe walls of elementary/middle school.
Apart from feeling the sting of academic pressure,...