Yes, three schools in three years. High school can be scary, nerve racking, sometimes fun and the best four years of your life. It all depends on what you make of your experience. For me, high school has been a journey. I have been to a new school every year for my first three years of high school. Each school I have been to is different from the others, both in positive and negative ways.

Go Westlake Warriors!

My freshman year of high school, I lived in Westlake and attended Westlake High School. I had the best freshman experience. Since it was my freshman year, it wasn’t hard to be the new kid because everyone else was new. I met many new friends and created lots of memories.

I joined the cross country team and was immediately put on varsity, joined many clubs and attended social events. The school was filled with an infectious spirit and I took advantage of every school event from rallies to football games to dances. The cross country team was lively, hard working and the coaches were exceptionally nice. I enjoyed every moment of being part of the team because they carried on traditions no one would want to miss out on, like taking a bus to the meets and rewarding yourself with In-N-Out after every race – regardless of whether we won or lost.

On the other hand, school was still school. Classes varied; some classes were hard and others were easy. The classrooms were smaller than normal, there was an abundant amount of kids who took school seriously and there a few kids who didn’t care so much.

One difference between the schools I have been to is that Westlake students were required to take Health for a semester, and then electives for the other half of the school year. I found this interesting and kind of annoying. During middle school in Long Beach, I had already taken Health, which was required for all middle schoolers and counted towards high school credits. As for the social part of school, mostly everyone hung out together.

Towards the end of freshman year, my parents told me we were moving back to Long Beach and I would be starting sophomore year at Long Beach Wilson.

It’s a great day to be a Bruin!

Switching schools was a transition. Beginning my sophomore year at Wilson was not scary, and I was not nervous because I had many friends there who I knew from middle school.

Wilson was very different from Westlake, and although I had many friends there, I just felt like I didn’t fit in. I loved the the cross country team, and was close with my coaches, but didn’t feel comfortable in the classrooms. The classrooms were a lot larger than Westlake and I found this made it difficult to learn. I found myself struggling a lot and looking for academic support.

It was hard to adjust to Wilson because I kept comparing it to Westlake, including all the pros and cons. Eventually, my parents found out about how I felt and that’s when they looked into Mater Dei.

Proud to be a Monarch

Now, it’s my junior year and I am here at Mater Dei. I love the school, teachers and people. This is going to be a great year and I look forward to all this school has to offer.