The transition to high school was not as drastic as I expected. This time, I knew I would have plenty of friends, and I also met up with a lot of my elementary school buddies that I was separated from oh-so-long ago, like Mollie Bradley. I also immediately made plenty of new friends, and this was primarily because of tennis. There was a new coach at Klein Collins that year, and we freshmen bonded quickly in response to Coach Foster’s extreme workout routine. A group of about eight freshmen girls quickly became best friends, and we were quickly named the “loudest girls ever seen” from multiple upperclassmen and our coach. Though we were often silly, and usually combined our practices of tennis with dancing, those friendships I formed freshman year allowed me to continue tennis all four years. Without my friends, I would have given up on tennis, found it too time consuming and difficult, rather than last until my senior year.
My other elective choice, choir, was less-than-fun my freshman year. Coming from a great choir program in middle school, I had high expectations for high school. Unfortunately, the directors and I didn’t click, and I didn’t like how we were treated as musicians. I considered quitting, but my sophomore year we had new directors come to Klein Collins. They were much more optimistic and enthusiastic about music, and completely changed my mind about choir. Over the past four years, I have made a lot of friends and even more memories. A highlight of my first three years at Klein Collins has definitely been going to New York City on my junior year choir trip. Visiting there and being able to perform in Central Park and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, with people who stopped to listen and take pictures of us singing, was a magical experience that really led me to become more involved in choir and appreciative of music.
Overall, my first three years were filled with both great highs and lows.