As the 2024-2025 school year begins winding down, many students, especially underclassmen, have begun reflecting and planning for their next year of school. Freshmen have begun recounting on their first year of high school, recalling various challenges and unexpected details. One freshman, Nathan Edwards, has been doing just this: “My freshman year was pretty fun,” he said.

Nathan looked back on his year, describing that is had many ups and downs, though admitting “…most years probably will,” going on to say that he expected to face new struggles in high school. He did detail one struggle he was certainly not expecting: his Spanish 1 course. “I was not expecting Spanish 1 to be that hard. It was a struggle to get through it.” He did explain that when comparing the lunches to Rushe, he believes that Sunlake has superior options. “…the campus is cool [but] the foot traffic is the worst thing I have ever seen in my life.”

Having good teachers in one’s freshman year is often looked at as a good omen for the rest of high school. Nathan shared how he felt about his teachers – “I like most of my teachers…” he said, continuing, “…they were all really nice and did their job well.” Overall, Nathan explained that nothing this year stood out to a great extent; he said he particularly enjoyed his 6th period and that he “…made a couple of new friends, and, as far as I know, no enemies.” Looking ahead to next year, Nathan commented on the proposed bell schedule, which will include lunch taking place at the end of the day: “The new schedule [sounded] weird at first, but if they let you out once you’re done with lunch, then I think it would be okay” he said. Overall, Nathan, and likely many other freshmen on campus, felt this was a great first year of high school and is excited to see what comes next!