Since the creation of public high school, there has been one class that has separated itself from the rest of the student body. Freshmen of every school year have been seen performing the same tasks and rituals. Everyday, they scurry through the halls displaying their color-coded maps and schedules. They wander aimlessly hoping to find their next class. Further investigation and research of the freshmen has given upperclassmen more information as to what they do and why.
Freshmen have a distinct appearance that is easy to recognize for any upperclassman. Their young and unfamiliar faces are blank and give signs of concern and confusion. The freshmen are slow moving through the hallways and blissfully unaware of their surroundings. They are even known to make a complete stop in the hallway because of two occurrences: They spy fellow freshmen and think they have the time to stop and talk, or they pull out their schedule and look for signs that indicate which room numbers are in which hallway.
During their P.E. hour, the freshmen are dwarfed by the bigger, more knowledgeable sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Because of this, they settle in a corner of the gym while waiting for their teachers to arrive to give attendance. Not allowing themselves to exceed their borders alone, they move in packs. Their strategy is to give the illusion that they dominate in terms of numbers in order ward off potential threats. After attendance, the freshmen migrate away from their original spot under the protection of their teacher.
The freshmen that start their high-school-experience in advanced classes like geometry or biology, start the year concerned about the fact that the will be in an environment filled with many sophomores. With a geometric or biological obstacle to overcome, the freshmen and sophomores will see beyond their differences and come together to survive. These connections help as friends of the sophomores in that class will come to befriend those freshmen.
Most aspects of nature change with the times. This is no exception with freshmen. After a year of enduring the social chaos, they will undergo a metamorphosis and become sophomores. The cycle repeats itself when new freshmen take place of the old. Performing the same tasks that the freshmen did before, the life cycle will continue to repeat itself.
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2 comments:
I liked how you showed that being a freshman is a cycle, and that everntually they will grow out of it and a new class of freshmen will take their place. I also liked how you talked about their herd-like movement. Especially how you explained it by saying its a defense mechanism.
I think this is an excellent piece Zach, and the title is very creative. Your description of how the freshmen move about is vivid and entertaining. When I read it, it made me visualize the freshmen as a herd of animals.
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