A Fresh(Wo)man’s Perspective: Physical Education
As this year’s freshman navigate the halls, one of the main topics that can be heard being ranted about by the 2021 graduates is gym class.
To determine what the most prominent changes are, three freshmen, who wished to be anonymous, were asked about P.E this school year compared to P.E in middle school.
The change that we heard most about from our interviewees is the shift of focus in curriculum.
To some, P.E has been and forever will be filled with some aspects of agony, but gym in middle school actually had enjoyable games and sports such as soccer and pickle ball. However, the sane students never smiled when it was the day of the dreaded mile run . The high school course focuses more on fitness, which includes the running, biking, and weight training units that can sometimes strike nervousness in people’s hearts. In other words, students are actually expected to try.
One freshman states that, “Yes, it’s more strict, because you can’t get away with not doing the whole workout anymore, which is difficult for some of the less athletic students”.
As relatable as this quote is, the hard truth is that most freshmen were not prepared for the high school gym class curriculum due to not giving it any effort in middle school, and/or the fact that middle school gym classes did not include some of the activities that are required of the students now. These include the tasks that people say they completed, but really skipped over.
“Throughout middle school, we never did pull ups because the teachers said that it was not necessary for us to know how to do them, and now they are a large part of class”, says another freshman.
Just like many things in life, the positives balance out the negatives. “Overall, I liked this year better, because we don’t have to do the timed mile that was required in middle school”, one freshman concludes. All three freshmen that were interviewed agreed that it was nice that the dress code for gym is more lenient, which is a nice addition when compared to middle schools dress code, which deducts points if you don’t have the required sweaty gym shirt paired with athletic shorts and gym shoes.
Overall, standards and expectations have changed dramatically, and it will take some time for this years freshman to get used to. Along with the curriculum that entails new challenges to navigate, some have found it harder to achieve all the points for individual days. Additionally, speedwalking has proven to be necessary for most students after they get dressed later than the bell rings, in order to not be late to their next class for the day. Contrary to the hundreds of cliche movies, gym class is not nearly as miserable as it’s painted to be in high school, although it has some attributes that students do not find enjoyable.
Grade: Sophomore
Years on staff:2
Role: (staff writer) contributor
Life Soundtracks: New Person Same Old Mistakes; Tame...
Grade: 10
Years on staff: 2
Role: Staff Writer
Life soundtrack: (song) “Where is my Goat” by Taryn Southern
hobby/ sport/...