Have you found your groove? Challenges of adjusting to Marymount

Have+you+found+your+groove%3F+Challenges+of+adjusting+to+Marymount

On August 26, we walked into Cantwell for our very first community, with summer tans (well, maybe not all of us) and the nostalgia of lazy July afternoons. Some of us were giddy with excitement; some of us were drowsy from getting up at 6:30 a.m. for the first time in months; some of us were a curious mix of the two. For freshmen and transfer students, this was the “start of something new” (I can’t help but quote “High School Musical”); for returning students, this was paved territory, yet something felt a little different, as it does every school year.

Whether you are a new or returning student, the first couple weeks of school are always crazy. Sure, getting course expectation sheets signed may seem simple, but then your teachers start giving summer reading tests, math problems, and Spanish or French workbook pages, and boy, does the homework pile up fast. Getting up early for school isn’t easy, either, whether you live five minutes or 50 minutes away. A couple early mornings and roughly seven-hour days can take on a toll on you quickly.

You may look at your pile of books and wonder, “When am I going to get used to school?” I’ve asked myself this question many times this year. In the first weeks of school, I quickly discovered that none of my classes would be easy. Now, it’s the beginning of second quarter, and I’m still getting used to my classes. Ironically, during the second semester of my freshman year, I felt like I had been at Marymount forever, but now, as a first-semester senior, I’ve needed more time to adjust than ever before.

Do we ever “get used” to the school year? We spend months getting up at 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. for school, but that doesn’t make early mornings much easier. Our teachers are constantly challenging us, giving new tests and essays, pushing us to do our best. We discover newfound joys in retreats, Friendship Day, and Spirit Week. Most of us, whether we’ve been at Marymount for eight weeks or three years, have been baffled by the block schedule at some point. Sometimes, I still forget whether class starts at 12:25 or 12:40 on an A Day.

Each year throws something new at us. We learn about new places to spend free periods and new specials at the café. It’s amazing how different it feels to sit at a new lunch table, or to go from being a little sister to a big sister. Somehow, I learn something new about my classes even in May. Over the year, we get to know our peers better and, most of all, we learn about ourselves. We learn what works best for us: where we study best, what subjects we like, how we interact with our classmates. Whether we realize it or not, we change tremendously within one school year. Picture yourself as a freshman or a middle schooler: Is that what you are like now? Chances are, you’ve changed in at least one or two ways since coming to Marymount. I know I have.

If you feel scared, don’t worry: Marymount will become second nature, if it hasn’t already. You will find the best way to study for that biology test; you will figure out how to navigate the block schedule. You already have a special place in this community, whether you know it or not. No matter what grade you’re in, expect to be surprised this school year. You never know what will come sailing your way.

Kristen Lee ’14 is the Editor-in-Chief of “The Anchor”