About halfway through the first quarter of the 2023-24 school year, how are ASFA’s new students adjusting to school?
Starting a new school can be nerve-wracking. When students are thrown into a new and different environment, it can be difficult to find their footing, and starting at ASFA is no exception. So to check in on our new student community, The Star spoke to a handful of our new faces to see how well they are adjusting to their new environment.
When asked how they were adjusting, some responses said that it was “difficult” and “hard." Visual Arts ninth grader student Leo Thurman identified the most difficult elements as “the new schedule and walking up the stairs.”
Visual Arts seventh grader Quinn Pounds also mentioned the stairs and the speed of the schedule as being the most difficult elements to grow accustomed to, saying he was having trouble with "the fact that I have to run all the way downstairs for health and wellness and then I always lose stuff so I have to go back up and down the stairs. It's amazing.”
Is the ASFA time schedule too demanding for students to adjust to? New Creative Writing ninth grader Lael Ponder (a member of The Star staff) said that the speed of the schedule was something she would have liked to know more about before attending. "I wish I knew about how fast the classes were and how the FOCUS schedule worked a little bit, and the homeroom and lunch period, how long those were gonna be. I didn't know anything about any of that except what [I found on the ASFA] website.”
Even long-time students say they understand why the schedule feels overwhelming. When asked if they thought the bell schedule was too fast, Theatre Arts junior Oona Vickery said, "Sometimes it can feel a little too fast, and then there's just kind of like a weird dichotomy between classes that feel really slow, and then other things where you're like, ‘Whoa, hold on, I have not processed any of this.’ Sometimes periods feel too long, sometimes they feel too short. Just kinda depends.”
But even with the hard adjustment, many students said that they liked their schedules. “I think I'm adjusting pretty well," said Ponder. "I like my class schedule, and the people here are nice, so it's good, so far.”
Thurman agreed and said, “It's a hard adjustment to make, [but] personally I have been doing just fine.”
New students said that while ASFA has a heavy workload, it also has a welcoming atmosphere and a friendly environment. As Thurman said, “People are more accepting here. Everyone's really nice.” Or, as Pounds also said, “People are actually nice and supportive, and don't throw forks at me.”
In conclusion, most students have been able to adjust pretty well to ASFA. Even if keeping track of how fast it moves is difficult, students have still been having a good time. Whether it's having fun in class, or making friends, the new students at ASFA seem to agree that ASFA is a fun and welcoming place where they get to work on their passions and meet new people.
Or, as Thurman summarized, “This school slaps.”
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