Dec. 15, 2022
By Nia Locier
Staff Writer
Moving to a new town as a teenager is hard. The thought of relocating is stressful, or at least it was for me.
I came from Clifton, where I spent my whole life. I met most of my friends when I was five or six years old, so we all grew up super close. When we were young, we had dreams of moving in together as adults and living lives that now seem too good to be true, but, of course, we didn’t know what we were talking about. I mean, we were kids. Now I’m in high school, and I know life comes with unanticipated obstacles.
If you asked me a couple of years ago what I thought high school was going to be, I would have told you that I would still be spending all of my free time with childhood friends by my side, but now that’s all changed.
When I found out that I was moving about two years ago, I wasn’t really worried about the school I would be attending because at the time classes were 100% virtual. That was when I was in seventh grade.
In eighth grade, I had the option to go to Lyndhurst Middle School, but I declined because I did not want to be the new girl, so I finished my eighth grade year in Clifton while living in Lyndhurst.
After graduating eighth grade, I spent my whole summer being stressed about who my friends were going to be at LHS and if I was going to fit in or not. Adding to my stress was the fact that I started high school a week late, making it 10 times more obvious that I was the new girl. That was super irritating.
Luckily, I was already familiar with one student at LHS. My sister transferred to Jefferson School last year, so she had friends from Lyndhurst already and most of them had older siblings.
My sister invited over her friend who had an older sister, who at the time was in eighth grade at Lyndhurst Middle School. I felt good knowing there would be at least one familiar face when I started at LHS in September. We didn’t really talk a lot, but we discussed how and why I wasn’t going to LMS and stayed on that topic most of the time.
Fortunately, I realized that making friends comes easily to me. I just have to give off the best vibe and positive energy.
I was surprised to find that LHS was actually super cool. While I didn’t meet many students in my classes, I made most of my friends at a football game, which I believe saved my social life.
Nonetheless, I still felt left out for the whole month of September because I sensed that everyone already had bonds for a while, and I was just starting to build mine. This made me realize I just had to be patient and take some extra time to talk to more people.
Normally, I’m a very quiet person, but going up to people and asking them to help me find my classes helped me start new friendships. Fortunately, I realized that making friends comes easily to me. I just have to give off the best vibe and positive energy.
Once I made friends with some kind and welcoming students, I felt confident that my freshman year would go smoothly. I still feel the same now.
I like LHS because it offers students many opportunities to explore their interests, whether that be through classes, clubs or sports teams. The teachers and administrators are determined to make the students’ high school experiences enjoyable, and for that, I am grateful.
As 2022 draws to a close, I reflect on all of the changes the past year has brought to my life. The year has not always been easy, but in the end, I’m definitely happy that I came to this school.
