Starting your freshman year is both exciting and overwhelming. It’s a time filled with new opportunities, challenges and experiences that will shape your high school journey. You’ll meet new people, try new things. Freshman year is all about learning, growing and discovering who you are, so take it one step at a time and remember you don’t have to have it all figured out right away.

Don’t think about what others think of you; you are your own person, and when you are yourself, you’ll find the right friends who will support and like you for who you are. Jayda Garcia, a junior at BHS, was interviewed with the question: “What’s one thing you wish you knew when you were a freshman and why?”

“Focus on school when you’re left out, be yourself, and you’ll have friends you actually like,” Garcia said. This shows how important being yourself is. “Popularity isn’t important, but being yourself is,” Garcia states.

Malcolm George, a junior at BHS, said, “One thing he wished to know freshman year. is to have a better mindset and not always think about yourself, and work as a team.” Moreover, Geoger elaborates that being an athlete helped guide him through his high school years.“Going through three seasons of Barrington football, playing with a team and playing for my team is the greatest opportunity l ever get to have,” George said.

There is always a place for you in high school. Including clubs, sports and so many more things that you could join. Remember, having a good mindset as a teammate is very important not only to you, but your teammates, so you can grow together as a team.