As a freshman, undaunted by the woes of SAT classes and AP U.S. History, I expected this school year to be a piece of cake. As a student coming from the Middle School, I felt that my teachers there had prepared me well for high school. Towards the end of eighth grade, I began asking some of my friends at the Upper School about freshman year, and I received the same response from all of them: it’s easy.

However, my first three months of high school changed my mind completely about freshman year. From the suddenly overwhelming homework load to the crowds of sweaty upperclassmen shoving their way to grab a plate of food in Manzanita, I soon discovered that freshman year is no easy journey. The drastic change in school life also affected my sleep schedule; I sleep far less every night than I had before.

In addition to the challenges of physics WebAssign problem sets and struggles of walking through Main as a short, unnoticeable girl, my inability to effectively communicate with members of the other grades at school also impacted my high school experience. After relying on guidance from more knowledgeable individuals, I soon realized that some of these people weren’t as willing to talk to younger students anymore.

First there are the sophomores, all “so done” with PSATs and annoying freshmen; the busy juniors, struggling through AP classes and reconsidering their course choices; and the seniors, the kings and queens of the school, now focusing on college applications.

Although such issues initially discouraged me, I quickly realized that I could ask both students and teachers to listen and give advice on various topics. I learned about methods for studying efficiently and tips for choosing courses for the next years of high school. Everyone I spoke to agreed that students need to choose courses they would enjoy and benefit from, rather than struggling through a schedule packed with advanced courses.

This suggestion confused me. Growing up with an older brother who graduated in 2012, I had watched him struggle through high school. I spent years listening to the many long, heated arguments over whether or not AP classes mattered on a college resume. By the time his senior year finally rolled around, I had acquainted myself well with the stacks of college admissions books my mother had purchased, and I soon found myself reading A is for Admission while my brother slaved away at his AP Physics homework.

So when I sat down with my mother months ago to go over our tentative course plan for high school, I had only one thought on my mind: choose the classes that would look best on a transcript. However, after recently hearing so many people tell me otherwise, I grew to understand that high school isn’t all about overwhelming yourself with seven AP classes a year and a mountain of extracurricular activities.

As I moved down my printed list of classes on my course plan one day, I realized that I wanted to focus more on music and less on science, even though my brother’s college path featured mostly STEM subjects. I drew a line through AP Chemistry. I had applied to a two-week music camp in New York, and I wanted to hone my harp performance skills and meet other musicians who loved music as much as I did.

After a few more revisions, I was done. The paper, now marked by a multitude of scribbles and lines, no longer resembled a neat, orderly list; a sense of relief suddenly rushed over me as I scanned the sheet once more, pretty happy with my plan.

Now that I’ve learned valuable lessons from the teachers and students around me, I’m looking forward to making the best out of my four years at high school by exploring new high school subjects and by continuing to do what I enjoy and love.