Gearing up for another school year

The school year has begun. As we forget our long summer days spent at the lake and with friends, we begin to remember terms long forgotten, like "homework" and "English Department benchmark essay."

As one walks through the halls of Yuba City High School, one notices the once-bright eyes of eager students becoming droopier. Their heavy eyelids from little sleep and over-commitment to clubs, sports and classes become more burdensome, and they anticipate their next class where they can prop their heads upon their hands and nod off during an "important" lecture about the election of 1800.

Needless to say, the transition from a carefree summer to school affects us all differently. When asked if she was enjoying her return to class, senior Samantha Thomas, who spent her summer working out of town, said, "Six hours a day, are you kidding me?"

"Summer felt so short, and the school year is so long," she added. "The policies of administration at YCHS are ridiculous. Having (an administrator) come and interrupt your class just to bark at students for wearing hats indoors definitely makes the days longer."

When asked about how the transition went, senior and first violinist for the YCHS orchestra Ria Sager said, "Smooth. We just jumped right into class and started working. I'm still able to do all of the fun things I did over summer, work a job and play my music."

Trey Nelson, a senior, explained that after working a job all summer, "I realized ... how easy school work really is. Summer has not ended; I just have a little extra work to do."

Of course, there are the classic pros and cons in coming back to school. Mikal De La Tonga, a junior, said, "(There are) too many people!" referring to the unusually high number of freshmen and inner-district transfers.

Philosophically minded senior Mandip Dosanjh spoke against the iconic conformity of high school: "The mundane routine of school takes away from the originality of life."

For students like senior Chris Yang, Associated Student Body activities make the transition easier: "Out of four years of going to rallies, this year's have been by far the best."

Rally coordinators Kevin Lewis and Mandip Dosanjh have received an endless stream of compliments on their back-to-school rally. When asked what makes his transition easier, Kevin, a senior said, "The people. I really like my teachers this year, and that really helps. My friends are the ones who really make it a great experience, though."

Some students seem indifferent to the transition. "I think I was actually late on my first day back," laughed senior Brooke Boss. "I mean, I don't not like school, but I definitely wasn't jazzed about waking up Monday morning."

For freshmen, high school is a whole new experience. Freshman Manraj Sangha said his transition "went pretty smooth. A bit different from Andros Karperos (his middle school), but it's going pretty good."

This year's seniors have taken the words of YCHS alum Manraj Garcha, class of 2011, to heart: "It's senior year, guys — let it rip!" Let it rip we shall, Manraj, you can count on it.

Greg Geraldo is a senior at Yuba City High School. His column appears every six weeks in Education.