An upperclassman’s guide to high school

For the past few years, Wenatchee High School has been overflowing with around 2,000 students. With our current student count at 2,189 students, it is important that incoming and returning students learn (or re-learn) some basics.

One of the things you have to perfect within the walls of WHS is how to move through the hallways. Yes, being trapped in a classroom with strangers is just so unbearable, to the point that the second that light comes on you lock on to the first familiar face you see and start a conversation. That’s all fine and dandy, but don’t do it in the middle of the halls, where your conversation blocks all traffic movement.

One thing that just about every high schooler has to face is public displays of affection (PDA). PDA seems to be the be-all and end-all in the cafeteria and hallways. No one cares if you’re just strolling through the hall holding your boyfriend/girlfriend’s hand, or maybe kiss a couple times at lunch. But there is absolutely no reason you need to make out before and after every period as if the sun will never rise again. Nobody needs or wants to see that; it’s just irritating. Save it for your car or your house or something.

WHS, and every other high school, might seem scary. And it kind of is, but it’s all on your terms. It seems cliché, but every choice made and where you end up by the time these four years are over is all on you. Right now a lot of it doesn’t seem so important, and some of it isn’t, but someday it might be.

Now that walking in the hall, handling farewells, and understanding the depth of your high school career has been covered, let’s touch on a few more unspoken rules.

You all know the familiar chant, “four more years,” that is infamous at the first all-school assembly, but do we really know what that means and what the seniors are really trying to tell you?

The senior class will always have its own mysteries no scientist or psychologist will ever be able to crack, however once you really sit down and focus on the codes the seniors speak, they don’t seem so mean, so scary, or so tough any longer.

“Four more years” being chanted by the cozier, better lit side of the gymnasium doesn’t actually mean anything rude or threatening, as most believe it is. In a way, we can look at it as encouragement. “Just four more years guys! You can really do it!” That’s what we want to believe, and should believe, those crazy young adults are really saying.

The one thing that most underclassmen have to learn the hard way is this: DON’T STAND IN THE FRONT ROW ON THE BLEACHERS AT ANY SPORTING EVENT. Though some braver hearts may be able to handle the humility of this scene, most of us would like to avoid it at all costs. This “rule” has became a sort of tradition in most high schooler’s eyes, and although it may not be fair to all of us, it doesn’t have to get you down. Make friends with upperclassmen, and at the end of the day never let bullying slide. Though we can’t speak for all of the seniors, most of them won’t bite. Make new friends and push boundaries. Keep an open mind and open heart, and get excited to experience four of the best years of your life.

There are a lot of things upperclassmen tell you about high school — which teachers are hard, what classes not to take, what you shouldn’t be doing at lunch. But we all know the hardest part of high school is the social stuff, and it can really affect you. You’ve got to know that whoever your best friend or boyfriend/girlfriend is right now, they might not be next year or even in a couple weeks. Being in high school brings new opportunities inside and outside of school, some good, some bad. You might fall off the deep end a couple times, but who says you can’t swim?

At the end of the day I don’t need to know the person you’ve been or the person you are, but the person you’re trying to be.

Don’t worry, you’ll be ok, more than ok. Keep your head up.