Advice From Students Who Have Taken Both 8th Grade and 9th Grade at the OHS

Worried about high school? Many middle schoolers expressed anxiety and uncertainty about the shift from 8th to 9th grade in our poll. Therefore, the Board of SASS reached out to students who have undergone this transition to try to help alleviate this anxiety.

From your experience, what were the major changes from middle school at the OHS to high school at the OHS?

Olivia Sheng: I did both 8th and 9th grade full-time, so I think the biggest change for me was an increase in workload and the higher expectations present with not only new subjects(like the difference between TAA and MWA), but also getting good grades in general. In middle school I had a less stressful time partially because grades weren't weighted and considered as heavily as they are in high school, so I also think that it's important to try to find a balance in everything, managing the workload and also not stressing yourself out too much.

Amelia Wyler: From highschool to middle school I didn't notice a huge change especially since some of my classes were mixed grades. I think the biggest change was the Core classes classes getting harder. I feel like MSB is a difficult (but very rewarding) introduction to highschool.

What is your advice to students who feel overwhelmed and/or uncertain about this change?

Olivia Sheng: I think my advice would be to lean on your friends and peers, everyone is here to help you and we all understand stress and anxiety! Definitely keep your friends close, and don't be hesitant or afraid to reach out to an instructor for help with a certain concept or assignment. I would also strongly recommend finding a good balance between school work and enjoyable work, like maybe putting aside a few hours a week just for pursuing passion projects, it helps in keeping you motivated and your spirits up.

Amelia Wyler: I would tell any middle schooler going into highschool to join all their class chats (if they haven't all ready) which offers useful information and is super helpful with the difficult classes. Also contact the peer tutors! They are super nice and are a great resource. Also reach out to all the new 9th graders (there are typically a lot of new kids in 9th) since it'll be their first time ever at SOHS and it could be nice to establish some new friendships.!

If you could go back and do one thing differently when you were transitioning from 8th to 9th, what would it be?

Olivia Sheng: Reach out for help more often, it's really easy to just think that you have everything under your belt and plan out an entire year with extremely high expectations and being totally unprepared for sudden changes that may occur. I think that people sometimes have trouble admitting to themselves when and where they are struggling(as I myself did), and I really wish that I had realized and admitted my faults to myself sooner. All in all, 9th grade may seem really scary in the sense that there is a whole lot of academic pressure, but I think the most important thing is to just listen to yourself! If you're having trouble, suck it up and seek help, because high school isn't just all about academics, it's also a wonderful opportunity for you to grow more as a person, and people are here to help you.

Amelia Wyler: During my transition to highschool I wish I had spent more time planning my master schedule and trying to figure out my end goals for graduating. It helps to plan ahead and set goals for classes you want to try to get into later!

General Responses

Rachel Hu: In my experience, there was not a huge difference between middle school to high school. To those who are transitioning, I would say to definitely take it easy. The teachers really treat you the same and although the class workload may increase if you're taking harder classes, I think you probably already have a good foundation from middle school. Make sure to go to office hours though!! If you haven't in middle school, you definitely need to take advantage of office hours in high school.

Kate: The biggest change for me was probably my workload and the grading seemed to get tougher, especially going from je002 to taa. my advice would definitely be to go to office hours whenever you have questions or book appointments with peer tutors. for English the writing center really saved me. Also, reaching out to others and peer reviewing for each other was really helpful.

Ashish: [There is] more homework and more difficult exams. My advice is to take notes from the beginning of the semester and use the study week for the final exams