There are 421 freshmen who attend Watauga High school. Many of these students went to middle schools in Watauga County. Going to the same school for years and then transitioning to the High School is a lot of adjustment for the youngest members of the student body.
Freshman, Julia Smith, wasn’t sure what to expect of Watauga on the first day.
Smith says, “My past self thought Watauga High School would be hard. I was worried that there would be a lot of hard work and that it would be really stressful, but I was looking forward to all of the cool classes.”
Part of the reason why students weren’t sure of expectations was because they had such a disrupted middle school experience. However, despite being concerned about classes, most freshmen aren’t concerned about the COVID-19 virus.
Caleb Dewey says, “I’m not really worried about getting COVID, but I do not want to get it just so I don’t have to miss school or sports.”
Missing out on school seems to be a great fear among students; many of them enjoy the socialization of regular classes.
Owen Tincher says in a quote regarding COVID-19, “I am not concerned, I just don’t want to have online school.”
If students are concerned about COVID-19, they are more worried about peers and siblings who are not vaccinated getting the virus.
Andrea Galicia-Salmeron is optimistic about her school year, but she doesn’t want to get anyone sick accidentally. She says, “[I feel] great that we are back, but scared to get COVID-19. My sister is not vaccinated.”
However, despite being in a pandemic, this year is very similar to others. Each student is more focused about schoolwork than COVID.
Sydney Marsh says, “I'm super happy that I'm attending WHS, my brother and my cousins have attended High school here. My worry is that we'll have another lockdown or I'll fail a test. Even though I might fail a test I'm not concerned about my grades, I'm confident that I'll have A's and B's this year.”
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