'I got the hang of it': Checking in with Twin Cities freshmen, one semester in
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Young people are settling back into school after the holidays and a few snow days for many of them last week.
Last August, MPR News spoke with five incoming ninth graders about their hopes, fears and dreams about starting high school.
Now they’re one semester in. MPR News producer Gretchen Brown caught up with a few of them to see how things have been going as they begin the second half of the school year.
Nikki Krsna, Wayzata High School
When we spoke in August, Nikki Krsna said she didn’t think high school would be like it is in the movies.
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And so far, it hasn’t been.
“It’s more chill and dialed down,” Nikki said. “You meet a lot of different kinds of people. Some bad, some good, some in-between.”
New Twin Cities high school freshmen share hopes and fearsNikki had been worried about walking into the wrong classroom on the first day. That didn’t happen, though finding her way around Wayzata High School — Minnesota’s largest high school by both enrollment and size — took some getting used to.
“The first month was kind of me adjusting. I would still forget where the cafeteria was,” she said. “But now I think it's fine. There's a system in place, so I got the hang of it.”
She’s keeping herself busy playing viola in the school orchestra, and in a variety of clubs, including the speech and debate teams. The biggest challenge has been balancing all that with a slate of challenging classes, while getting enough sleep, and staying healthy.
“When I feel really overwhelmed, I usually take a break. I’ll either take a nap, or I’ll listen to music … and come back to it later.”
Evan Bierscheid, Roseville Area High School
Evan Bierscheid thought he might be intimidated by the age gap when he got to high school. As a 14-year-old, he thought it might feel weird to be around 18-year-old seniors.
But has been surprised by the connections he’s made with them.
“Contrary to what movies or TV might say, the upperclassmen have actually been really nice and welcoming, which has been super helpful,” Evan said. “So if I needed to, I can go to them if I don't have anyone.”
Lots of those connections have been made through theater — he was in the school production of “Peter and the Starcatcher” — as well as the improv team, and jazz band.
The improv team has been especially close-knit.
“Everyone on the team is really accepting of everyone,” he said.
In the future, he wants to be a musician, producer or sound engineer. And he’s encouraged by the talent and drive of the folks around him. It feels more professional than middle school activities ever did.
“It's a lot more fun to be at a higher skill level, to where you're able to do so much more.”
Anna Penz, Cretin Derham-Hall High School and Lucy Bradford, Highland Park Senior High
Anna Penz and Lucy Bradford have known each other since they were 3 years old. And they’ve managed to stay connected, even though they’re at different high schools this year.
They’re constantly sending TikToks and Snapchats. And it’s easy to hang out anytime, living right across the street from one another.
Anna explains: “We never go out and do things. It’s normally like—”
Lucy interjects: “‘Hey, can I come over?’ ‘Sure.’ I come over, we watch movies and fall asleep.”
High school has been different from middle school, but about what they expected. There’s more homework. Science and advanced placement classes have been more challenging than printmaking and ceramics.
They’ve both had very different experiences meeting people. Lucy is in high school with many of the people she went to middle school with. She was told that on the first day of school, you immediately join a group.
“I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know if that’ll happen for me.’ And it did.”
Anna, on the other hand, is around mostly new people. She sat with one group of people the first two weeks. It didn’t work out.
“Eventually, throughout those two weeks, I made new friends. We have two tables where 15 people sit.”
She said she’s the kind of person who is friends with everyone, so finding one group wasn’t that important, anyway.
Still, there have been some harrowing experiences. Like the time Anna sat in the wrong spot in the hockey student section, and got kicked out by some seniors.
“They wanted their friends to sit down next to them. So we had to go,” she said.
Lucy has more connections with upperclassmen, since both of her brothers go to the same high school. The older one drives her to school every day.
“The other one, we just cross paths and pretend like we don’t know each other,” she laughs.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SINGING]
PAT DONOHUE: Well sometimes I dream I wake up in the morning and find myself back in my teens, one of life's uglier scenes.
SUBJECT 1: I'm Nikki. I feel like the first month was kind of me adjusting. I would still forget where the cafeteria was. But now, I think it's fine. There's a system in place. So I got the hang of it.
GRETCHEN BROWN: What has been the biggest challenge so far of high school?
SUBJECT 1: I do a lot of activities, so kind of just balancing out those activities and also just getting enough sleep and being healthy. I guess that's also kind of a challenge that not just me, but a lot of people face.
When I feel really overwhelmed, I usually kind of just take a break. I'll either take a nap or I don't know, I'll listen to music. I really like my orchestra class. I play Viola.
I think music is kind of a good break from all the academics that you do throughout the day. I think just for anyone who's going into high school next year, my advice would just be to be prepared to just meet different new people and get exposed to different kinds of environments. But I think that making at least acquaintances with people in your classes just makes the class more fun.
SUBJECT 2: Hi, I'm Evan Beersheid. I'm in ninth grade and I go to Roseville Area High School.
GRETCHEN BROWN: How's it been going?
SUBJECT 2: Good so far. Having a lot more options of things to do has been really fun. I was doing the play, but that wrapped up. I'm part of the improv team as well, which has been super fun.
And I'm also on the jazz band, which has been really great. Middle school, it felt a lot more like, oh, this is a score function. But now with theater, improv, jazz band, it all feels like it's closer to a professional level than anything, just because all the people you're working with are really good at what they do. They expect a lot out of you, but they also help you give a much better product.
[SINGING]
PAT DONOHUE: Back in high school, I'm glad I'm not there anymore.
SUBJECT 3: I'm Lucy Bradford. I'm a ninth grader at Highland Park Senior High.
SUBJECT 4: I'm Anna Pens, and I'm a ninth grader at Cretin-Durham Hall.
GRETCHEN BROWN: I know there's some new people, some old people, how has that been making new friends?
SUBJECT 3: I have talked to my brothers about stuff like this. And the sophomore said the first day of school, you just kind of immediately join a group. And I was like, well, I don't know if that'll happen for me. And it did. It happens very quickly.
SUBJECT 4: Mine did not work out like that. I also knew a lot of people there, but coming from a different school that wasn't a feeder school, it was really different. I sat with one group, I sat with them for two weeks, but then it just wasn't really working out.
So eventually, throughout those two weeks, I made new friends. And then I don't really have a friend group, but we have two tables where 15 people sit. I'm also kind of a person that's friends with everyone, so it doesn't really matter to me.
GRETCHEN BROWN: Are the older kids intimidating at all?
SUBJECT 3: Depends on the situation. Sometimes. And I've been kicked out of the student section before by them. I got there really early because it was a really big game and then I wanted to have a spot. But then they wanted their friends to sit down next to them. So we had to go.
SUBJECT 4: I have two older brothers that are both in high school, so I feel like I know a good amount of older kids where it's less intimidating for me. One of them drives me to school. And the oldest one, we'll say hi to each other in the hallway. The other one, we just cross paths, pretending like we don't really know each other.
[SINGING]
PAT DONOHUE: Back in high school, I'm glad I'm not there anymore.
CATHY WURZER: I hope the second semester goes well. You can find photos of these freshmen and more on our website, mprnews.org. And by the way, the song you just heard was High School, it's a good one, by St. Paul musician Pat Donohue.
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