The student news site of Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

The Hawkeye

The student news site of Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

The Hawkeye

The student news site of Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington.

The Hawkeye

How to be a freshman, just taking wing at Terrace

How to be a freshman, just taking wing at Terrace

The first year of high school can be pretty daunting and intimidating, but it can also be the start of four great years here at Terrace. High school offers many opportunities that you should take advantage of as soon as possible, and freshman year is the year to begin.

MTHS has a wide variety of clubs and sports that you can join and make friends in, such as Art Club, Key Club, ASB, and Gay-Straight Alliance, so finding what you like is vital. There’s something for everyone. Getting involved early helps you find your passion early. Take each opportunity as a chance to grow. For more on involvement, see page 14.

“High school is a new experience with lots of opportunities so make sure you don’t miss out on them,” sophomore Zanny Shehata said.
Clubs may take up a lot of time in your day, but don’t let that discourage you to try out or join them.

Keep an organized, updated schedule. Forgetting you had homework because you forgot to write it down somewhere is the worst. Don’t let that happen to you. Try to get to know your teachers and your counselor. It makes your life far more easy.

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“We believe [freshmen] can be successful and we want them to succeed,” World History teacher Michole Mattix said.

Don’t tell yourself you’re not doing well in a class because you think the teacher just doesn’t like you. You’re responsible for your future, make sure that your personal life is separate from your school, its important that your bad days don’t make your GPA suffer. Everybody has bad days, but it’s important that you know there are people here at Terrace who are here for you.

Terrace is full of resources and people who want you to succeed. Mattix has her three rules to a successful year, “Number one, do the work. Number two, get connected. And number three, if you need help find somebody.”

With these simple rules, your freshman year can be great.

You’ll be applying to college in a couple of years and it’s important to stay focused on grades and extracurricular activities. However, it’s important to maintain a well-balanced perspective. Falling a little behind on one assignment will not ruin your life and it certainly won’t impact your future as much as you think it will.

Don’t overreact to bad situations. Just work hard and meet with teachers to try to figure out what you did wrong, then try to improve on it.

Don’t tell yourself your freshman year doesn’t count and you’ll improve your grades later. Your freshman year counts. It always counts. Sometimes you can turn it around your sophomore year, but it’s a lot harder. Starting off with a bad year can negatively impact your attitude about school and make you think the next three years will be the same.

Grades are incredibly important, however. They’re more important than popularity and they’re way more important than whatever trend is floating around. Keep your grades up, do your homework early and study.

“Do not forget to study and never turn in late work,” sophomore Maddy Caioloa said. “It’s very important that you prepare yourself for finals, tests, and exams. Even if it’s a little test or quiz you need to be prepared and ready to take it.”

Avoid late work at all costs. While some teachers are flexible about due dates, others will never accept late work and you will receive a zero on the assignment. Stick to deadlines the best you can.

Maintaining healthy friendships is also important. If anything needs to be balanced in high school, remember clear head, grades, and friends. Friends help keep a clear head and a clear head helps you get better grades.
You’ll also quickly learn that being late at Terrace is almost never tolerated. Some teachers won’t care, but others might require you to stay after class for a couple of minutes. You should do your best to be on time to your classes and, if you can, get there early so you can settle in before class starts.

Here at Terrace, you’ll meet many different people from all aspects of life. Everyone has something to contribute with a different story. Try talking to everyone you can. Don’t be worried if you’re not everyone’s friend. The people who will talk to you at 3 a.m. and listen to you when you tell them about all your favorite things are the most important. People who make you feel bad about yourself should be cut from your life.

Don’t take classes your friends are taking just to be with them. Do what you want to do. You’ll feel better in the long run.

“I think all freshmen, if at any point when they’re feeling unsure about something should ask ninth grade teachers, PASS teachers or a trusted teacher and get help,” biology teacher Adam Welman said.

Always ask questions in class, it’s super important, and it gets you noticed by the teachers. If you’re confused about something, don’t tell yourself you’ll figure it out later, it’s not a stupid question; it’s a question that will help you understand the material better. But don’t be disrespectful about it and ask a million questions just to waste time.

Something you should learn quickly is that upperclassmen aren’t as scary as you think they are. They’re just like you and they want to succeed in this school as much as you do, not. They were a freshman not that long ago and they went through what you are going through too. Get to know your

Link Leaders and other upperclassmen who can offer you great advice.
“[Upperclassmen] really want freshmen to get involved and be active members of the school,” Mattix adds.
Enjoy your freshman year.
You only get one.

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