Weird. Chaotic. Unexpected. Those are a few words to describe yesterday, Apr. 5, — the day freshman at Creek had their first day of school with all Creek students. 

“Everything seemed so new,” freshman Seoyeon Hur said. 

The transition was already hard enough for average students; but for freshmen who had no experience or expectations, it was even harder. 

As a ninth-grader, I know I wasn’t expecting my day to be like this; and all the freshmen I’ve talked to today have had a similar story. 

The day started with buzzing hellos and warm greetings. There were new faces and some old ones we hadn’t seen in a while. Then we would walk into class, and our breath would get caught in our throats. 

For me, I knew there were going to be more students in classrooms; but when actually confronted with the reality, it was surreal. 

“The amount of people really surprised me,” freshman Maya Friedlander said.

First period went by. Then the real struggle appeared which none of us expected – enduring the hallways. 

I spent minutes that seemed like hours just trying to get to the other side of the building. The extra doors were helpful for traffic, but the number of people was still bizarre.

“There were way too many human beings around,” freshman Emily Zhang said. 

Even though everything was more crowded, I found it easier to make conversation in class.

With small cohorts, there wasn’t much chatter because fewer people in classes led to less conversation. Now, though, plenty of students in the class feel comfortable talking to each other – which creates a more comfortable school environment. 

Then after repeatedly being faced with the same, crowded situations, the surprise was still there; but some of the nervousness had melted away. Freshmen have already been introduced to their classes’ locations and half of the faces within them, and the biggest struggle was getting used to the number of people. 

The freshman did endure many struggles; but despite that, I noticed there was a common trend of happiness going around. 

Due to the cohort system, many friends were split up. Today, though, students had the chance to talk with others they hadn’t seen in over a year.

“I loved the day, and I loved seeing my friends,” Friedlander said.