What does an eighth grader think of high school? Do they feel anxious? Excited? Or both at the same time? As I collected information from the eighth graders, answers varied from one another. Now that they approach another major milestone in their lives, eighth graders are one year closer to their graduation. This means that it is only natural that they feel anxious.
A student from Grade 8 St. Catherine remarked, “[I’m] excited, but nervous that I would fail.” Most students responded similarly to this question. Though others responded more strongly, one student said, “I’m pretty excited to go to high school! I wanna experience the full thing.”
When we think of high school, most of us think of memories, fun times, laughter, and jokes. But when we really take a closer look at the lives of these future high schoolers, it’s not as easy as you might think. As I interviewed these students, a swift glance at their lives prove that transitioning into high school takes a lot of preparation and effort. The amount of work and the mere thought of failure might be enough to give you a migraine!
Even though high school seems quite challenging from this perspective, there are various things to look forward to, such as new subjects! In high school you will be presented with the opportunity to choose a foreign language. When the students of Grade 8 were asked what foreign languages they look forward to taking, the majority said Spanish while some replied with Japanese. Foreign languages are not the only new subjects to look forward to either! I asked some students, “What are some subjects you look forward to doing?” The answers ranged from Biology to Trigonometry. Although, at this point of the school year there are mixed feelings about this great transition, perhaps it will change during the next few months. Watch out for part 2 of the interviews! Make sure to keep up to date!
Selfie of students from St.Catherine
