As a freshman (or sophomore), it can be hard to navigate a new school and adjust to a new schedule. With this being said, some students have taken the chance to share with us how their first few days at Niles West went.

When asked about classes, many freshman admitted that they had a rough start to the year, especially because they weren’t sure where they were supposed to be going.

“It was hard for the first two days, but after that, I had it down,” freshman Subhaan Patel said.

Ayesha Navaid said her first two days were very hard on her because of the “traffic jams,” meaning the large number of people in the hallways. As for her classes, they were very far away from each other, so it was difficult to navigate at times.

“One challenge I faced was getting to class on time. For example, I ended up getting lost actually finding my classes, so it caused me to be late,” freshman Peyton Hidaka said.

For some, the main difficulty they had was the change in the students’ environments. Although multiple students felt challenged, freshman Wajeeha Malik did not feel as stressed; her only struggle was finding her English class.

Freshmen Christian Calero and Sarah Khan even said that after the second day, finding their classes were easy.

Their first week as a whole brought different experiences. Wajeeha and Navaid both came from private schools. After coming from smaller schools, being in this new environment was strange to them.

After a year of having students attend school virtually and hybrid formats later on, students expressed how they felt going back fully in-person. Interacting with others seemed unusual, and for some, it was hard to connect with others. Hidaka and Patel mentioned how it’s strange seeing everyone in person especially after being remote for such a long time. Khan said that after being remote her biggest challenge was “talking to people and getting to know them.” Thankfully, many students stated how helpful the staff were each day.

As for what they are looking forward to do in the future, many students want to get involved and make new relationships.

“One thing I’m looking forward to is learning new things and meeting new people,” Khan said.

Overall, these freshmen haven’t faced any major struggles. Like some of us, we can definitely relate when they say their only challenge was finding their classes.