A Former Homeschooler's Take on Public School

(Inspired by Loren)

I think most of you know that I started public high school this year, after being homeschooled my whole life. If you didn't, now you do. 

Everyone asks me if I like school, and they look surprised whenever I say that it's pretty good. I think they expect me to say that it's exhausting and draining and I wish weekends would last forever. That's partly true, but the good parts mostly balance it out. Mostly.

The first day was confusing and scary. I had never been in the same building as two thousand other people before. It was really loud. I didn't know the layout of the school or my schedule. 

We started the day with a pep rally. I decided that I hate pep rallies. It was too loud and it was kind of pointless. Next we had advisement period, and that was better. The bell schedule was changed that day, so all the classes were out of order. We had 4th period before 3rd, because of lunch. They lengthened lunch to 30 minutes instead of 20. I sat with a girl who was in dance class with me about two years ago. I didn't speak the whole time. 

I had to sit in Geography for an hour and a half and the teacher let us get out our phones because he ran out of things to talk about.

To get from French to literature I had to walk all the way from one corner of the school to the other and up a set of stairs. I was late.

In biology, there were more students than desks. I didn't get a desk and just stood for the whole period. 

I spent the whole day feeling a little out of place and disappointed because I didn't get any of the electives I wanted. 

The first day wasn't so great, but the rest of the school year has been much better. I wish I didn't have to wake up at 6:20 every morning. That's probably the worst part.

Now I'm going to talk about my classes.

First period: Introduction to Digital Technology

This was not a class I wanted to take. Art was full, so I got this instead. We're learning about computer systems and we're supposed to learn coding next semester. Mrs. N has started letting us listen to music, so at least I have Green Day to keep me awake that early in the morning. 

This class is really boring. My dad is a computer network support person, so I already know half of the stuff. Mrs. N is really strict, but I'm one of only three girls and I don't yell during class, so she likes me. Only a quarter of the class actually cares about the material, but I don't blame them.

rating: ★★★☆☆

Second period: Personal Fitness

This class sucks because I hate running. That's all we ever do. If it's raining we get to play basketball. I don't know anyone in this class, so it's especially boring.

There is a group of guys who plays either basketball with a shoe or football with a bottle. Every. Single. Day. Then the coach yells at them to stop being stupid. 

rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Third period: French

I love learning French. It's so much easier than Latin, which I took for two years. Mr. L tells us stories sometimes. Some are related to the class or French culture. Some are about random things like how his friend found out that not all dogs can swim. 

On Friday we basically played Simon Says. He made one girl walk around the room while he gave her directions in French. 

I do have a friend in this class! She's really tiny compared to me, also loves dance, and is really good at drawing. When I say she's tiny, I mean that I can put my arm straight out and rest it on top of her head. 

rating: ★★★★★ 

Fourth period: AP Human Geography

Geography is pretty interesting. It gives the most homework, but leaning about cultural relations is great. It's one of those textbooks that I would read for fun if I had time. 

The girl from my dance class that I sat with on the first day (Mal) is in this class, along with a bunch of her friends. Coach J calls me by my last name sometimes, which is a little weird. Sometimes he asks his "favorite student" to answer questions, and Mal always answers.

There are two juniors in this class and the rest are freshman. I work with them on most projects because we sit together.

rating: ★★★★☆ 

Lunch is in the middle of geography. I sit with Mal and her friends. I don't talk a lot because I don't know them very well. It took me about a month before I was comfortable speaking at all. I don't speak much at school anyway.

Somehow the discussion topics get weird and uncomfortable more often than not. There's a lot of talk about boys and gossip about other people. I don't care very much about either of those.

The school food doesn't look very appetizing. The cafeteria has managed to mess up canned pineapple before. How does that work?
rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Fifth period: Literature

Literature is very entertaining. I love the way Ms. P teaches. If what we're doing isn't too important, she lets the class get a little off-topic sometimes, and that's always fun. She says our class has a lot of character, or "chair-acter," as the class says it.

There's S, who is from New York, wears a necklace with his name on it, and may have a private jet. I can't tell if he's joking. There's T, who is on the football team and broke both of his arms.

There was that one conversation about dolphins. That was weird. 

rating: ★★★★☆ 

Sixth period: Geometry

I am not a big fan of Geometry. Firstly, it's boring. Secondly, I'm doing really badly on all of the tests. 

But Liv is in this class. I like her... a lot. She has the most random sense of humor and amazing fashion tastes. She makes the whole class better.

By the way, I typed Gemometry three times while attempting to write this paragraph. My hands are really cold and that makes it hard to type.
rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Seventh Period: Biology

Last class of the day! Mrs. R is really nice and lets us eat in class. The work isn't hard and she doesn't really give homework either. 

Like I said earlier, there are more students than desks. I have to sit at a table that faces the wall. I can't see the board without turning sideways in my chair. It sucks when I'm trying to type something. I can deal with it, but I would rather have a desk.  

rating: ★★★☆☆ 

This has been a review of Evy's high school schedule.

Overall rating: ★★★☆☆ Could do better.

Leave a star review of your schedule in the comments! 

Currently jamming out to Green Day's new song! It's called Back In The USA, if you're interested. 😃

Until later,