Moving Forward: Transitioning to High School

As we’re all well aware, change is a huge part of life. Maybe you once had to move or perhaps you adopted a new pet. Maybe you made some new friends along the path of life.

Change is something that puts us out of our comfort zone, all with good reason though. My story begins with a change that put me into a new school: high school. When the pandemic first began, I was nearing the end of grade 8 and now I find myself taking my first steps into grade 10. Time flew; however, that didn’t make my transition to high school any easier. So, what made the switch so difficult and how did I overcome it? Here’s my story about my experiences transitioning to high school amidst the pandemic.

Going from a familiar environment to another in which one is unaccustomed to is a very big change. Moving from a school where I knew everybody to a school where I knew almost nobody was a shift that was very hard to adjust to. To top that, the different learning methods the new curricula, and new classmates behind the masks made my transition even harder, but not impossible. With that being said, here’s how I overcame these difficulties.

School is a place where we’re supposed to learn valuable skills for the future. But it goes without saying that school is much more than just that. School is a place where new relationships can be made and a place where one is supposed to feel at ease.

Though I initially felt lost, slowly I found that my transition to high school became much easier when I started making new friends! As many of my friends had different courses or were forced online because of the pandemic, it’s been challenging to maintain relationships from middle school. This forced me to stick my neck out on the line and seek out friendships with people I’ve never met before.

According to the Help Guide, a non-profit that seeks to spread awareness about mental health, “Friendships have a huge impact on your mental health and happiness. Good friends relieve stress, provide comfort and joy, and prevent loneliness and isolation.” (Robinson et al.) This is exactly what I felt from my personal experiences as my friends helped keep me grounded in a time where loneliness was prevalent. This ultimately made my transition smoother! 

But friendships doesn’t just come knocking at your door, they come with effort from both sides and, most of all, with good impressions. As a person in a new school, I found out pretty quickly that I had to be sociable, likeable, and adaptable in order to make new friends. While not everyone was open to friendships, many were receptive as everyone was put into the new environment, just like me! To keep those relationships lasting, I also kept in touch outside of school via texting and virtual meetings.

Another great resource that made my transition to high school a lot easier was the access to guidance counsellors. Now, while I was scared to talk to them initially, they proved to be of great help to me and they allowed me to understand how high school worked! As an only child in my family, I had nobody to help ease my transition. However, my guidance counsellor played a pivotal role in doing this. They ultimately helped me settle in and helped build my confidence! While all the meetups where virtual, that didn’t stray from how helpful they were and how much they helped me get settled in.

Above all, what really helped me was becoming involved with school activities. By doing a plethora of activities—such as becoming a peer mentor, joining my high school’s leadership team, and joining a business competition—I familiarized myself with many new people. These clubs helped me immensely in settling in. Being involved not only helps make more connections with like minded individuals but at the same time keeps you busy and helps you learn. The life skills you carry in some clubs are essential for the future and exploring high school within your grade 9 year is a must. It’s really just the best way to get integrated in the new system. But do make sure not to do more than what you’re capable of and make sure to not overwhelm yourself. Make sure to be able to maintain your workload and to not bite off more than what you can chew. Afterall, maintaining good grades is essential.

All in all, high school isn’t a place one should fear, but instead a place full of opportunities! While change can sometimes be hard to overcome, it can always be tackled with different mechanisms. It’s been nearly a year since I took my first step into high school and let me tell you, it hasn’t been too easy. However, I can say with utmost confidence that these learning experiences helped me make my transition easier and I hope it can do the same for you. Afterall, as they say, no pain, no gain!