The first day of freshman year, I expected to walk into the doors with a welcoming of people crowded around their lockers and circles of stereotypical groups. I was sitting on the bus, nervously waiting for what was to come. From my first steps walking up to campus from the bus, I noticed the groups sitting far apart from each other, scattered around the courtyard. As I walked to my first class, nobody even went near the lockers.

In my first class, everyone seemed just as nervous as I was, not quite sure what to anticipate. As the day progressed, every class was filled with introductions. By lunch, everyone was on their phones searching for their closest middle school friends, collectively trying to find familiar faces and temporarily making small talk with people from former classes.

There was not any singing or dancing around the halls. Teachers went about teaching; students went about listening and taking notes. Everyone went about their own business. In fact, it felt the same as any other grade–I was just older.

As high school progressed, I saw people I knew become faced with the problems that they had only been warned about in middle school. I expected to hear about wild parties and crazy weekends, but there never seemed to be a party going on, or at least, I never knew about one. This has changed as I have gotten older and further into my high school career. Although I personally have never attended one of these parties, I know people who have.

Throughout the years, people began to find new faces to hang out with. There was not this seclusion to the same middle school friends.

High school has taught me to open myself up and expand beyond my comfort zone. I walked into high school assuming that I would have the cliche, stereotypical experience, and I left understanding that it is nothing like the movies.