When school starts again in August, it will mark a milestone for many students of the 2015 graduating class as they move to the Winnetka campus, but not without some anxiety.
“New faces, new challenges, and a new year overall,” said Joy Joy LaRosa, who will be a sophomore this year. Incoming sophomores who spoke about the transition to the Winnetka campus used words like “nervous” and “excited.
Meredith Falk, a sophomore and a Student Alliance member, is very excited like many students are. She believes that where the Northfield Campus was more like junior high, the Winnetka Campus is more “the real deal”. She said that the open campus at Winnetka gives students “more freedom and opportunities overall. There are more clubs and classes to select. You can really pursue your interests.”
Abi Cummings, another sophomore, said that she hopes this upcoming year will be just as good freshman year, “I had such a great year last year and I’m hoping to have an even better year next year.” She’s looking forward to “new experiences and being with more people.”
However, many students are anxious about the Winnetka campus.
Joy Joy LaRosa said, “[I am] a little nervous because my schedule is going to be more difficult, and I’m also nervous because I’m going to be surrounded by 16, 17, and 18 year olds. Not to mention, a completely different building!”
There are over 3,000 students at the Winnetka campus and the worries of many students about the new campus range from the difficulty of new classes to just finding their way.
Former sophomores understand how it feels to transition to the new campus. “I was excited to be at a new campus with more freedoms/opportunities, but at the same time I was nervous about finding my way around and how I would adjust to the bigger campus and upper classmen,” said Natalie Dolan, a junior this year. By the end of the year, she said she felt “comfortable and ended up liking the Winnetka Campus more than the Northfield Campus because I had a lot more freedom.”
Emma Page, also a junior this year, mentioned that “The first couple weeks actually weren’t quite bad. I learned the school in under a week, and everyone seemed so nice. There were one or two upperclassmen who called me a ‘sophomore’ in a rude way, but it didn’t really get to me. To be honest, it seemed as if it was a bit embarrassing for them.
This year, Page will be a Bridge Builder for Kerri Fischer’s advisory. “We help incoming sophomores to adjust in a way that’s subtle, yet very assisting. Within the first week of school, we’ll be around showing [sophomores] where to go, because after all it is a big school,” said Page. “[Each bridge builder] will be helping sophomores in advisories individually with any problem they may develop through the first semester,” said Page.
Page and other former sophomores also have some advice for incoming sophomores. “My advice to all the sophomores is to relax, because you are not alone, you are coming in as a whole grade of about 1,000.”
Dolan says that her advice for incoming sophomores is that they should “try not to worry a lot (even though they may not be able to help it) because everything turns out fine in the end.”