By Maxwell Silver
Leaving middle school comes with many mixed emotions, mostly good ones about moving on to high school, but also some I’m not excited about. The first bad thing about leaving middle school is that high school is WAY bigger so it will be harder to navigate from wing to wing. Middle school only had 3 main hallways. This has me worried about being late to my classes. I tend to stroll and that may not work out for me. The overall size of the school is like nothing I’ve known so I’ll have to learn. I will probably miss half of my classes just trying to find them at first so I hope the teachers are lenient in the beginning. I mean, WHRHS’s campus is 85 acres big (I looked it up). I’m not entirely certain what WMS’s footprint is (I couldn’t find that one) but it certainly isn’t 85 acres.
There are a lot of good teachers that I have gotten to know over the years and I’m even more excited for the new ones I have yet to meet. I will miss some teachers and some I will NOT. Not going to name any names but there are some I didn’t like and I’m sure some that didn’t like me, but that’s normal, after all. A good thing about leaving middle school is it allows you to branch out and meet new friends too since multiple districts go to our Regional High School. In my opinion, I think the middle school is stricter. In high school, I’m hoping it’s less rigid than I’m used to in the past.
Moving up to high school has me planning how not to lose contact with some of my friends, learning to steer my way through a new building, finding lunch since there are multiple cafeterias-the usual stuff. In middle school, you generally can see your friends more often, even just in the hall passing between classes, and have fun with them in lunch. I know texting and calling exists in high school, but it’s not the same when you aren’t having a lot of in-person conversations.
There are also a lot of good things about stepping up to High School. The prospect of making new and unique friends from the surrounding towns with different backgrounds sounds great. The differences in each of these districts will offer more varied opportunities for in- and out-of-school activities. Although it’s a really big step in my education, I feel proud to be graduating and taking with me all I’ve learned in my last 9 years of school. The uncertainty of what’s to come is a little scary but I think it will be exciting when I get there. The variety of clubs and sports offered in the Freshman Orientation night recently really opened my eyes to all I’ll have to choose from. I signed up for 4 things already!
With that, I leave optimistic about the next chapter and the path to achieve my goals-whatever they may be. I’ve watched my brother for 4 years make his way and support me when I needed it. But his path is off to The Ohio State University. I’m so proud of him and can’t wait for my first visit. Who knows maybe I’ll end up there too? Go Buckeyes!
Maxwell is a graduating 8th-grade student at Warren Middle School. He enjoys biking, skiing and runs track. He is a whiz at gaming, loves Nutella, pizza & hippos and is always there for a great one-liner that will leave you laughing. He is a rising Freshman in the WHRHS Class of 2028.