School doesn't start until two days from now, but I already get to know the reality of A.C. Davis High School. Here we go: Freshman Orientation.
I get the first idea of how it's going to be in the months to follow. It's 7:30 in the morning, the sun stands low, the air is cool, and the space of Davis courtyard vast. This time, it's also filled with some two hundred fellow students. Freshmen. To be precise, I am going to be a Senior, yet I am new to the school. And the Orientation is something an exchange students undoubtedly needs.
I'm surprised to be the only incoming student wearing our school's colors - black and orange. I have prepared myself for being a Pirate way back in Poland - I remembered to pack all clothes I could find in these colors. I've already been a Pirate even before I formally became one.
Being in such a crowd of Americans for the first time, I suddenly feel lonely. Here I am, without my host parents or any other person who could lead me, left on my own. Part of it might be, kids are way different here than back in Poland. Different - and varying. Though I'm not good in guessing one's ethnicity, it hits me that a lot of groups represent different ones. Someone has mentioned that over 80% of Davis' student body are Mexican. Even I can notice it.
Davis High is stunning. It's like no school I've ever seen in Poland; it's like no building I've ever seen in general. It's big, it's neat, and it's very modern. Everywhere I look I can see the school's colors and motives, with the pirates, pirate ships, and the letter "D" taking the lead. But I am wordless the moment I enter the school's gym. It's like a stadium, but what's more, it still smells with newness. And these colors, they are literally everywhere...
- Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to announce that you are the very first group to gather in the brand new gym of Davis High School! - A deafening applause follows the greeting we are welcomed with. I look around, too astounded with all the details of the gym's interior to pay attention to what they are talking about.
Orientation is basically about making us, incoming students, familiar with the school and the basic rules. It's all based on some fun activities, such as learning to respond to the school's cheerleaders' fight songs, getting to know one another through group challenges, or high-fiving with teachers.
I'm surprised with what seems a reduced mental distance between students and teachers. They welcome us as if we were long-expected members of the community, and with their behavior, smiles, and general way of being and interacting with teenagers they can be best described as 'cool'. Some of them are actually cooler than a lot of students I've encountered. All teachers and staff members seem to be fully dedicated to their jobs, and they are surely people whose primary role is to be students' friends. I just see it.
And I am not to be mistaken.
- Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to announce that you are the very first group to gather in the brand new gym of Davis High School! - A deafening applause follows the greeting we are welcomed with. I look around, too astounded with all the details of the gym's interior to pay attention to what they are talking about.
Orientation is basically about making us, incoming students, familiar with the school and the basic rules. It's all based on some fun activities, such as learning to respond to the school's cheerleaders' fight songs, getting to know one another through group challenges, or high-fiving with teachers.
I'm surprised with what seems a reduced mental distance between students and teachers. They welcome us as if we were long-expected members of the community, and with their behavior, smiles, and general way of being and interacting with teenagers they can be best described as 'cool'. Some of them are actually cooler than a lot of students I've encountered. All teachers and staff members seem to be fully dedicated to their jobs, and they are surely people whose primary role is to be students' friends. I just see it.
And I am not to be mistaken.
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