Next Year's Freshmen: Who Are They?

Ever wonder about who will have the privilege of being freshmen next year? Actually, many Jamesville-DeWitt High School students are quite concerned; myself included.

There have been rumors circulating around the school about extremely rowdy behavior from this group. Freshman Ashley Thompson, who shared a school with the eighth graders for three years, said that some of them can be funny and nice, but “I heard they have a lot of drama.”

“They have a lot of cliques and they’re really materialistic,” agrees sophomore Amber Blom. Blom and sophomore Amanda Lee say that they have yet to hear anything good about the eighth graders as a whole.

In fact, J-DHS principal Paul Gasparini paid a visit to these students in December. “[Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School principal Peter] Smith wanted me to tell them that everything about high school is true,” he said. This included telling the eighth graders that what they have been hearing about the importance of doing homework on time and getting prepared for tests and quizzes is true. It is also true that everything in high school counts towards college and your future, says Mr. Gasparini. He said that the eighth grade teachers wanted to make sure that the students were ready for the step up next year.

Junior Rebecca Doss thinks that the freshmen-to-bes display the “usual obnoxious middle school behavior” judging by the way her brother and his friends, who are all in the eighth grade, act sometimes. However, she thinks that they are good kids, just a little hyper.

Are these the type of people that we want in our school next year? I’m assuming that your answer is no.

Luckily, that is not the only opinion. I don’t think that it’s fair to automatically place all freshmen at the bottom of the hierarchy. I actually have a brother coming to the high school next year and his friends don’t seem all bad. Among them are a few skilled athletes, artists and musicians.

“There’s a lot of really athletic people, and I think they’ll help us win games,” said freshman Melissa Leone.

Doss thinks that next year’s freshmen will be just fine. “It’s a typical ‘Oh my gosh, watch out for this freshman class!’ There’s always the same hype, but they end up all right,” she said.

Freshman Darrin White is even friends with a few of the eighth graders, and he thinks that they really care about their schoolwork.

Mr. Smith seems to agree with this statement. “This group sent representatives to state level competition in the Science Olympiad, earned honors in All-County music festivals, [and] placed very high in national and state exams of Spanish and French,” he said.

Upon visiting J-DMS, Mr. Gasparini noticed that the eighth graders were “very respectful and attentive.” He also thinks that the vast majority of them will be prepared for J-DHS next year. “J-D is a great community. There’s no reason to believe that the new ninth graders won’t succeed,” said Mr. Gasparini.

Despite all of these highlights of academic excellence, many students think that the upperclassmen will not welcome next year’s freshmen with open arms. As a freshman, one is entitled to a life of misery. In some extreme cases, you literally become a punching bag for the year. “There’s a little rudeness from the upperclassmen,” said freshman Sierra Vasiliou.

However, everyone’s freshman experience is different. I had a sibling in the high school freshman year, so it was a pretty easy transition from middle school. As a general rule, if you don’t bother the upperclassmen, then they won’t bother you. Doss thinks that it helps if you play a sport freshman year because then you will be playing alongside upperclassmen.

Mr. Gasparini thinks that next year’s freshmen will be treated very well. “I don’t think upperclassmen give freshmen too much grief, though they let them figure out high school on their own,” he said.

Though Mr. Gasparini thinks that the eighth graders will be a great addition to the school, some of you may not be convinced. I just have one piece of advice to you. Don’t judge people based on what you hear, but rather on what you know. Maybe next year’s freshmen won’t be as annoying as they seem.