Alorah Gilgreen & Clare Japor.
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By Alorah Gilgreen eaving behind the school I have been at for the past eight years, meant leaving behind the faces I recognise, the environment I am comfortable in and giving up being one of the ‘big ones’. I was now faced with trading all of this in for the uncertainty, nerves and excitement that comes with growing up. From the outside, this school looked gigantic and once I got inside I realised it was even bigger. Every door looks the same and reading the timetable feels like being asked to read a foreign language. Being one of the babies of the school felt intimidating but the most reassuring part of the whole transition was being able to look around and see that everyone else looked just as lost and uncertain as I was. For me, one of the biggest challenges was getting used to the bustling of the hallways, stick to the left, head down, don’t stop otherwise you may just feel what the inside of a rugby tackle is like. Next came making friends. Before I started at PHS I can just remember all the grown ups in my life telling me that I was going to make so many new friends and have all these new experiences. But, it turns out making new friends is not as easy as it sounds. In a sea of a thousand it’s hard to figure out who shares your interests and hobbies. But I decided to investigate all the groups and activities that PHS has on offer which gave me a great opportunity to spend some time with my peers. I’ve realised that starting a new school is scary for
2 | YEAR 9 ARTICLE | PHS YEAR BOOK 2020
Alorah Gilgreen & Jacinda Ardern. anyone. But still, I felt scared and alone. It seemed that all my peers from my old school had already met and made new friends by the first week and I hadn’t met any. All the classes that were new to me were strange. Classes like English and Math were familiar and I thought I already knew my strengths and my weakness. But with subjects like tech and science outside of my comfort zone, I was terrified. I wanted to do well in them, to be the best but even if I tried hard I couldn’t do it. People around me seemed to have already figured out how the system worked and what the teachers wanted from them so I felt far, far behind. I think it really took until about June to really feel like I belonged, I had a handle on my school work, knew what my teachers were expecting, and I had a great group of people to share in my journey. I’ve had a challenging, but great experience from being a year 9 at this school and I can’t wait to continue my years here at Pukekohe High.
