Freshman Foibles
Oh, how quickly sophomores forget what it was like to be the new kids in the building.
Incoming freshman can feel like the whole school is against them.
January 20, 2023
The social hierarchy of high school is as old as the institution itself and apparent in day-to-day socialization and in the tradition of hating on the newbies of the school.
Not every freshman commits the horrendous acts described by the grade above, and it is unfair to generalize such a large group. Nevertheless, with this in mind, they are still freshmen and it seems like tradition for upperclassmen to hate them.
Nearly 88% of the sophomores at NAI admitted to disliking their freshman counterparts. But why?
One continuous complaint is that the freshman just don’t know their place. According to Sophomore Hope Bolibruck, “The freshman think they’re a lot cooler than they actually are and they act like they own everything.”
Freshmen also seem to have the inability to walk properly in the halls. Sophomore Kodi Dusmez says, “It’s like they are oblivious to all the unspoken rules of high school. Stop congregating with a million friends in the middle of hallways.”
Dusmez has advice for all the freshmen who have forgotten how to keep it moving: “Right foot forward, then your left foot. Is it that hard?”
Many sophomores also agreed that they find freshmen annoying to deal with. Sophomore Zy Mulkearns believes this common dislike amongst the sophomores is because “the freshman are annoying, walk slowly in the hallways, and have no personality.”
But how can sophomores characterize hundreds of freshmen into a common stereotype most schools have? There have to be many sophomores who are great friends with at least one freshman. Mulkearns agrees saying, “I hate freshmen with a passion except some of them are ok. AKA Andrew.”
Sophomore Ellie Babcock has a different perspective on the matter. She thinks, “they’re better than what most people say about them. They’re not that annoying.” Sophomore Maddie Van agrees, saying “It depends on the freshman, really.”
Even though the sophomores were freshmen just four months ago, they often still admit to feeling better than the freshmen. When confronted with this fact, Sophomore Zahra Abubacar says, “Even though I was a freshman last year, let me tell you something. I act mature; they don’t.” Abubacar believes that the freshmen act like they are still in middle school and need to grow up.
What makes the sophomores last year so mature that this year’s freshmen simply do not have? Once freshmen enter high school they lack many social experiences, like relationships or school dances, that sophomores already have experienced. This makes them seem less mature when compared to sophomores who have already experienced these things.
Although this answers why freshmen act immature, it still does not answer why the sophomores at NAI feel so much more mature when they were freshmen. Sophomore Kayla Joyce says, “I think we were just as immature, but we don’t like to admit it.”
Kayla believes that part of hating on freshmen comes from refusing to accept that you were once also a freshman. She says, “I kinda get embarrassed when I see them (freshman) cause it’s like I was once that weird.” The source of freshman hatred truly boils down to secondhand embarrassment and denial that they were once the same.
This tradition of hating freshmen has been passed down for many years. Almost every incoming freshman goes into high school expecting harsh judgment. Although they may not like it now, once they are sophomores they will be saying the same things about the class of 27’.
