I have been in school for the greater half of ten years now- a substantial amount of my young life. However, this year happens to be my first year at a public school. When you spend second through ninth grade at the same private school, you tend to hear a few things about the “horror” that is public school. I was told many things, like that all the kids disrupt the class, the teachers don’t really care to teach, and that only bad things happen in the halls. In my short time here, I can say that all of those facts are invalid.
For starters, some kids will be disruptive wherever you go; it mainly depends on how teachers deal with the situation. In my observations, students tend to be louder in private school than in public school. The teachers all seem to genuinely care about the class they teach, and mostly find a nice balance of fun and discipline. Another factor that makes my experience here more enjoyable includes the pride you get to take in your school. It may be different in other private schools, but most people tended to stick to academics at my old school and never paid much attention to outside events such as sports. While academics are most important, you’ll miss out on all that high school has to offer unless you attend school wide events.
Attending public school for the first time presents its own challenges. I went from having a school with two stories and two halls to a school with three stories and a ridiculous amount of halls. Previously, when I had to go between classes, it took around two minutes, with around three minutes to goof off with my friends. I now spend around five minutes scrambling through random corridors and bumbling my way through what seems like an infinite amount of hallways and floors.The process of finding my class may take months, if not years to perfect. So if you see a tall kid with a weird haircut looking down at a schedule, say hi to me and point me in the right direction.
The amount of people here has also amazed me. For multiple years, my entire grade was filled with around 25-30 people. Now I have 30 people in each of my classes. My lunch period consists of what seems to be around the same number of people in my former high school. Not my former lunch, my entire high school. With the introduction of A days and B days to the school, while most people have some sort of opinion on it, I’m just here for the ride.
Being “along for the ride” is the mindset I’ve been keeping through this entire process, and (hopefully) I’ll be able to take anything this big, public school throws at me.
