Before the 10-day regents break, which bridges the gap between the winter and spring semesters, students are putting all their effort into increasing/maintaining their work ethics to ensure a favorable grade point average. Through the study sessions and multitudes of delta math questions come mixed feelings about the second semester and the realization that the school year is already halfway through. To highlight some of MHSHS’ student experiences, I interviewed two sophomore students, who chose not to have their names included.

 

The first student, whom we’ll call Student A, started by saying how fast the first semester felt and her realization of how quickly time passes. In addition, she mentioned that she couldn’t believe she was about to be a junior in just a nick of time. One long-term goal she has (and had) is to finish the year strong, with good grades. Her experiences are shared among the whole school community, as many people feel like time has passed by extremely quickly. The ninth graders cannot believe they are progressing to tenth grade so soon and the pattern is seen with other grades. Even though time has passed, it is never too late to focus on getting those grades up.

 

The second and last student interviewed, Student B, is a transfer sophomore, who expected to face a different environment and experiences as compared to a sophomore who had been in MHSHS since the start. Contrary to those first beliefs, he found himself much more comfortable with teachers and classmates now that time had settled in. To address the feelings about the second semester, similar to Student A, he also felt that time had flown by fast. 

 He expressed how the mid-winter break provided a fresh start for the halfway mark of the school year. This semester, for him, was described as “rough” but he is certain that the second semester can only get more challenging. He feels that he is now better prepared for it and will try his best to end the school year strong. 

 

After hearing these two anonymous sophomores’ experiences, reflections should certainly be done occasionally to check your progress in the school year. It can provide better ways to target your bad habits or anything hindering your goals. Therefore, take some time to reflect on your first semester and perhaps, end this school year how you would want it to end.