By Yamilex Garcia
At the near end of this first semester, many of this year’s freshmen are finally feeling relaxed and feeling confident about how to get all of their classes. However, this wasn’t always the case. For the first two or three weeks, upperclassmen were snickering about freshmen looking at Pueblo’s map trying to figure out how to get to their next class. Perhaps these seniors were remembering being freshmen themselves just three short years ago.
If it seems as if there are a lot of new, young faces, you are correct. This year’s freshmen class is the largest in recent memory—545, to be exact, as of Dec. 6, 2016.
For freshman Nayleah Ayala, high school has been more than what she has expected it to be. “Here at Pueblo, the teachers really do help you achieve many things. They all want us to pass—and they are passionate about this.”
Eliam Mecias said the freshman orientation during the summer helped him find his classes and was also an excellent way to help him make friends.
Another freshman, Ceciana Garraid, said that her primary goal this year is to join a sport. “I think that being part of a sport or a club is a great way to bond with other students. Plus, I’ll be required to keep my grades up.”
Daniel Casaraz, freshman, wants to be the second one in his family to graduate and make his parents proud because they were unable to graduate. “I have great parents who encourage me to do my best, and I know this is an important factor to my success in high school.”
Denisse Amezquita’s biggest concern about coming to high school was getting lost in the hallways, upperclassmen bullying her, and the teachers not being under standing with her personal problems. “After a few weeks, my fears became less, but I was very frustrated for the first few weeks of the school year.”
Some freshman had some challenges with the schedule and their high school classes.
“Getting used to my schedule was a bit tough,” said freshman Karime Baker. “After two weeks, however, I adjusted to everything.”
Ruben Huerta, freshman, admitted, “I took me a few weeks to start liking my classes. In the end, I liked all of them—especially my AVID class with Ms. Bojorquez.”
Another freshman, Nicole Del Torre said, “I don’t like being a freshman because to me it’s more boring than middle school. I’m not making friends as fast as I thought. I hope to change my attitude next semester and learn to be more positive because I’m a great person and would love to share that with others.”
Niomi Baumea, a freshman, said, “I hate how crowded it is for lunch. I’ll be standing in line, and others will cut in line. During passing periods, there are too many kids stopping to talk. There needs to be more monitoring during this time to make sure that everybody gets to their classes.”
Academically, one freshman, Jenyffer Lopez, said, “Some of my classes are easier than I thought, but some—like AP human geography—are challenging. I’m doing okay and have learned how to manage my time better for homework. I didn’t fail any classes this semester, so I’m doing better than some of my peers.”
Stephanie Carpio, a freshman, said, “Many of my classes were more difficult than my middle school classes—especially biology. I am learning that talking to my teachers makes a big difference.”
Native-American counselor Ms. Amalia Salazar’s advice to freshmen is to stay on tract in all of their classes, especially English and math, probably the two subjects that high school students fail most often, especially during ninth grade.
Ms. Rosalina Anaya, another counselor, stressed the importance of freshmen learning how to balance fun and academics because this school year is when many students make the most mistakes.