On Sept. 4, once again older students live their lives in adulthood and new, youthful students enter the years of high school.

Current eighth graders will soon be saying goodbye to middle school and join the high school environment. However, for some rising freshman, there are concerns coming into high school.

“I think that the people that are in higher grades than me will pick on me,” eighth grader Anthony Daus said. “I think that it will be hard, because I have to do the science fair. I will also have to study a lot more for geometry, because I am not very good at math.”

Coming into high school, the classes, people, teachers, and much more are completely unknown to new students.

“At Langston, there was only one level and at South Lakes there are multiple levels, so you don’t know whether your classes are upstairs or downstairs,” senior Brianna Davis said. “You need to make sure you’re on time.”

Transitions can be difficult. Many say getting into a group of friends made the transition easier for them in their first year in high school.

“Get involved and find a group that you might like,” Davis said. “Be open, talk to people, make friends, and don’t be closed off. Be open minded. Just enjoy yourself.”

Current and former freshmen say they made mistakes that caused the freshman year to be difficult.

Many students agree procrastination is a common mistake.

“Do not procrastinate,” freshman Bret Wilde-Webster said. “Start early on all of your assignments. High school is a lot different than middle school.”

Grades also contribute to the high school life.

“I believe that they need to work on their grades especially since the grades will count for college application,” freshman Jonathan Doctor said. “This is when it gets serious. You have to think about what you are going to do later. You are going to have to start planning ahead especially if you want to do the IB diploma.”

Freshman Samantha Malzahn believes that students should not go over their set work limit.

“Understand your limit,” freshman Malzahn said. “Don’t take any that you can’t handle, because it’ll hurt you later.”

Doctor wishes for the rising freshman to assimilate into the high school.

“I just hope they will be part of the south lakes community,” Doctor said. “They are going to start joining all the clubs. I hope that they integrate well.”