Fish Are Friends: 10 Tips for Freshmen

Friends Kelsey Cloud, Nancy Nguyen, and Maddie Tebbe, all seniors, smile for a group picture before a fiesta pep rally.

The beginning of August means back-to-school shopping and preparation for the new school year, and as the summer draws to an end, panic begins to set in for incoming freshmen. The new freshmen begin to prepare for fish camp, a high school orientation seminar, which helps smooth their transition into the new year.

As a former freshman, I have compiled a handful of helpful tips for all of the newcomers:

1) No matter what any upperclassmen say, there is not a swimming pool on the third floor aqua wing.

2) Bring snacks. Freshmen lunch is around 11 a.m., so you have four more hours of school to get through before you can eat again. You’ll appreciate that bag of chips.

3) Ordering food from the provided vendors at lunch is way better than the cafeteria food. Aim for Hunan Inn or Schlotsky’s; they’re definitely good.

4) Do NOT underestimate the importance of grades your first year of high school. You don’t want to look back and wish you had tried harder.

5) Try your best to attend every football game, whether it’s at home or away; it’s always good to support your team.

6) Go to Homecoming. The music may not be the best, but it’s a good memory to have from high school.

7) Try to get involved in a sport or club activity; don’t be afraid to expand your friend group.

8) Join MMOB (Memorial Mustangs Outreach Bunch), run for office positions, and volunteer whenever you can. It may seem like a struggle now, but you’ll appreciate it when you have an impressive resume by your senior year.

9) Dress up for pep rally days even if it means a last-minute scramble to put together an outfit, it’s always worth it. (TIP: Value village is an excellent store for strange clothing items, trust us)

10) You will be booed at pep rallies. Accept it, and move on. It gets better.