An unfamiliar, large campus. Hallways teeming with a sea of new faces. The move to high school can sometimes appear daunting, but the Link Crew program at the Upper School is designed to ease that transition.

Today, Link Crew met with these advisories for the first time during the school year. Two members, a junior and a senior, are assigned to each Class of 2018 advisory in order to help smooth the freshmen’s segue to the Upper School.

Providing anecdotes, advice, and of course, food to their respective advisories, the Link Crew officers engaged in discussion with the students.

Shikhar Dixit (12) was assigned to math teacher Jeanette Fernandez’s advisory. He talked about his experiences as a Link Crew member for a second year.

“They’re really awesome people; they’re a really cool grade too,” he said. “It’s really nice getting to know new people, and that’s what I love about [Link Crew].”

The freshmen and their Link Crew counterparts first met on Aug. 21 at Freshman Orientation, where advisories bonded during team-building endeavors. The event hosted a range of activities which tested their coordination and communication skills.

“During orientation, we did some pretty fun activities,” freshman Shaya Zarkesh said. “I was actually quite surprised at how fun they were. I thought they would be boring.”

Izzy Gross (11), working with history teacher Mark Janda’s advisory, shared her experience with reaching out to the new students, along with her senior Link Crew partner Sahana Rangarajan.

“I remember what it was like being a freshman as if it was yesterday, so I think it’s fun to try to get to know freshmen because I feel like I can still really relate to them and help them,” Izzy said.

Sahana echoed these sentiments.

“It’s fun to meet the freshmen coming in to the high school,” she agreed.

In the next coming months, the Link Crew will continue to meet with Class of 2018 advisories, ready to facilitate the students’ experience of their first year.