Starting secondary school can be a daunting change for students. 9CE's Payden Fox tells us first hand about what the process has been for her starting at UHC.

Before school started.

Before I started school I had so many questions and I was so worried about everything and I was stressed about 'what if i get lost' and ‘what if I'm not in the same class as my friends’?

In my case (and most likely many others) I've been very lucky that I had an older sister to help me. She would help me with whatever I needed that had to do with school and I'm also very fortunate that my sister was kind enough to help me whether it was answering questions or helping me with stationery orders. I'm very glad and thankful that I didn't have to go into college completely clueless.

Orientation 

Orientation for me was not exactly what I expected. To be honest I had expected orientation to be all getting to know you games and a tour like most schools do but the UHC Orientation was better. 

We had more than just one tour of the school which was good because it meant it was easier and faster to learn where things were in this big new school. Instead of just getting to know you games we learnt how some of the school works and who most of the important people in the school are. 

We also went around most of the classes we would have so we knew where they were. And doing all of that made me feel more welcome and used to the school so that by the time I started I felt comfortable and not as worried, like I thought I would be when starting college.

What school is like now

By now, even though it's only the start of the year, I'm already feeling used to the school for the most part and I know my teachers and I'm not worried about being in different classes with my friends because by not having all my friends around all the time, it helps me out of my comfort zone and helps me make new friends. 

And I'm not even worried about getting lost. It just feels normal even though it's such a big change it doesn't really feel as different as I thought it would. I’m liking school and I'm happy and surprisingly not stressed.