Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / Oct. 1, 2004, edition 1 / Page 5
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5 October 2004 op-ed the stentorian | ncssm A Senior’s Take on the New Juniors Kristoph Kleiner N ot a day goes by with out a conversation about the junior class. At every table in the cafeteria, at every circle at Happy Half, in every classroom when the teacher is not looking, the sen iors are talking about the slack junior schedules. Phrases like, “Back when we were juniors” and “I can’t believe you only have four classes” run rampant among the seniors. And, well, I agree with the rest of my class. How hard can this school be if you only have one class on Friday? All I hear from the juniors is how easy their classes are. Everywhere I go I see the juniors doing everything: talking on the lawn, playing computer games, sleeping, everything except homework. Juniors, just realize that that is not how it should be. This school is not about having free time. NCSSM is about always having work to do and having to learn how to manage your time; then you truly appreciate the free time you do have. My favorite grand seniors were the ones that always did work. This is because when they weren’t working they made sure to have fun. These seniors-Alia, Kellen, Kamil, Meg Shea- were the ones I admired because they knew what NCSSM was all about. it was the day from heaven. This year I have met juniors with a “no class” day. The point of junior year is to work hard so that you deserve to be slack senior year. But, this few class linit. I understand that the point of the new schedule is to relieve the stu dents’ stress, but if the junior class is the smartest elass we have ever had, shouldn’t they Juniors on the Senior bench! Surprisingly, most seniors aren’t jealous of the juniors but feel that they are missing out on the NCSSML experience. Last year I was in class for most of the day. I remember looking forward to my Thursdays last semester when I had a three-hour lunch; year the juniors are slack already. Your first year here should be about having to stay half the night to finish home work. It’s only then you can appreciate the school and be proud to have survived. I am not blaming the juniors. The problem is the Vanna Sombatsaphay be able to handle some stress? The juniors are certainly capa ble of taking more elasses. The school is for the state’s best students, not for people who want an easy high school. NCSSM needs to return to a more difficult schedule. I hope that in the future, I will see juniors read ing their history book instead of playing video games. Juniors on the lawn will be writing up a lab, not watching the clouds go by. This is the Science and Math I know and love. Even when I graduate and come back for reunions, I will look around the school to see the students all studying. I hope I will see them all with a book and binder in their lap. We need to realize that if NCSSM is to continue to grad uate intelligent, hard-working students, then we must eontin- ue to push the students to their limits. I learned so much last year from my classes. I stud ied MO theory, the War of 1812 and realism. Yet, far more importantly, I discovered how to learn. The subjects we are taught will rarely help us in the real world. What matters is that we discover new possi bilities for ourselves and find a passion for knoweldge. What matters is that we learn to manage our time. Juniors, I hope you do work hard and discover new interests. This school would be a waste of your time if you don’t. Oh and if you’re a junior reading this, don’t you have some homework to do? Junior Move-In Day: The Thoughts of a Junior Caroline Fryar S unday, 2004 August 16th, 7:00 - This is the earliest I’ve woken up all summer. And of course, I stayed up most of the night doing last-minute pack ing (which 1 did not finish) and talking on the phone to my best friend. I was about to roll over and go back to sleep, when I remembered that today is the day I move in to NCSSM - my home for the next two years. who gave me about six keys and “fobs” and cards, “which you really do not want to lose,” and a packet full of papers. Since I had arrived kind of late, most of the girls on my hall were already there. My two girls-who-live-on- hall-and-are-called-whatever- the-adult-isn’t ran up to meet me and showed me where my room was. But I didn’t really have time to look around, because around thirty overly fnendly and excited girls ran up to my Mom and me, and introduced themselves. Of course, I don’t remember any- 2:00 - I’ve just spent the last three hours in the car, get ting lost once, and sleeping, but primarily making myself more and more nervous about today. What if I don’t get along with my room mate? What if I don’t meet anyone? What if my classes are too hard? I don’t even know if I’ve fully realized that I’m coming to school here, and that I won’t see my family or fnends again for three weeks. But now we’ve pulled into the parking lot beside Royall, and it all seems suddenly real. 2:45 - I found my hall after about five minutes, and had to ask only two people for help. I met the adult-who-lives-on- the-hall (a RLA? or an SLI?), ^Thi This is the earliest I've woken up all summer... today is the day I move in to NCSSM - my home for the next two years. one’s name. All of the girls I had just met then offered to help me move my things out of my car into my room. So we walked outside to the parking lot, and I showed them my car, which was entirely full, and definitely lower in the back than the front, from the weight of all of my things. And all of my hallmates, who I didn’t even know, attacked my sag ging Volvo station wagon. It only took us one trip to move everything to my room. 4:00 - Plan A was to organize everything in my room, make a leisurely trip to Wal-Mart for the necessities that I’ve inevitably forgotten, and then, once every need has been addressed, to say goodbye to my Mom. However, there was only, time for an immediate, harried trip to Wal-Mart - there were so many people in the store, my mother and I just turned around and went to Eckerds, where fighting was not necessary to secure the last shopping cart. My room is still a shambles. I’m attempting to fit my entire life into an 8’xlO’ that I have to share with another person, and it’s not easy at all. And now I won’t see my parents or sisters for almost a whole month. Needless to say, I am overjoyed about this, but less so when it comes to not seeing my fnends. But now we have a “meeting” with our SLI (I finally figured out which was which) and all the other juniors. I’m suspecting ice breaker games. 6:00 - I was right. There are only five other juniors on my hall, so we became pretty close after an hour of sharing “inter esting facts about each other.” r Afterwards, since we were already “friends,” and were grateful that we had people to eat dinner with, we all hung out in the lounge and talked. We were all so different - I’m sure that we wouldn’t have been friends at our old schools. But we all ate together, and now we’re help ing each other get ready for the iee cream social. I’m glad that my hall is so small, because now we’ve all become pretty good fnends. And I’ve only been here for four hours! 9:30 - I was not expecting to have as fun as I did tonight at the ice cream social. A dance at the School of Science and Math, I thought, how much fun will that be? But actually, it was a pretty good time. The seniors who were helping with Junior Move-in ran us, in a herd, through the ice cream line, and, admittedly, the danc ing part was no good, but the rest of the night was fun. Since no one really knew anyone else, all kind of people would come up and introduce them selves, and you could do the A dance at the School of Science and Math, I thought, how much fun will that be?" same to other people. Everyone was so open and friendly, which took me aback at first, but it was definitely a great way to meet new people. I ran into a friend I had baek in middle school but hadn’t talked to since, which was very exciting. I was sur prised at how friendly people are here - I’d expected everyone to be really nerdy and quiet and definitely not fun. J 12:00 - After the dance, all the girls on my hall, meaning the five juniors and a few seniors who got here early, all hung out in the lounge and talked. We were asking the seniors all of these questions about what school will be like, and they were giving us the best advice. But now I’m going to sleep, since tomorrow is another full day. There are so many ques tions I have that need to be answered, and so many things I’m still wondering about, but somehow. I’m sure that my time here will be well spent. After a great first day here. I’m looking forward so much to the rest of the year!
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Student Newspaper
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Oct. 1, 2004, edition 1
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