'I got the hang of it': Checking in with Twin Cities freshmen, one semester in
Anna Penz (L) and Lucy Bradford look at their phones as they pose for a portrait in Anna’s home in St. Paul on Jan. 7.
Stephen Maturen for MPR News
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Young folks are settling back into school after the holidays and a few snow days for many of them last week. You may remember last August on the program, we spoke with five incoming ninth graders from Twin Cities high schools about their hopes and fears about starting high school. Well, now that they've got their first semester under their belts, our 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.
[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.
[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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