Something+Old,+Something+New

“They all thought I’d like it, which I do,” new senior Alex P. says of McGehee. Alex left St. Martin’s for McGehee, and is excited about joining the senior class and the McGehee community. “I wanted to go to an all-girl’s school and make new friends,” she says. While McGehee is smaller, has uniforms and does not have some clubs or activities, such as cheerleading, that St. Martin’s did, she still thinks that McGehee is an improvement, because of such things as “eating and drinking [being] allowed almost everywhere.”

Even those of us who have been here “since birth” all became “the new kid” after Katrina, so we all know how hard it is to adjust to a new school, new rules, and new people. We have also experienced people entering our classes throughout our time at McGehee. We all know that for any new student, it takes a while to truly adjust, but none of us know how it is for the seniors who have to enter a class that has had at least a year to bond and develop an identity for itself in the school.

Caitlin S. joined the class of ’08 from Lusher and chose McGehee over Franklin and Country Day because McGehee was the “most willing to work with NOCCA, actually the only one that could accommodate me.” On having changed schools multiple times, Caitlin says, “I’ve gotten some criticism for it, but I think it’s a strong suit, because I adjust well and it means I’m definitely ready for the changes of going to college.” The biggest difference between McGehee and her old schools is having “classes where everyone is willing to and likes learning.” Also, there is “any resource available; if you want it they can get it for you, especially the resource of good teachers.” The only problem is that McGehee has “fewer AP classes and electives.”

Both agreed that the McGehee community as a whole is very welcoming and easy to adjust to, but how is it becoming a member of the very loud and very close senior class? Caitlin had heard beforehand that the class was very loud, and Alex said, “Ms. Wargo, at my interview, said [the senior class] was a really united, great class.” But how was it for the two on their first day? Alex was not nervous at all and was “excited about meeting new people.” Caitlin was, however, “really overwhelmed…I’m still kind of overwhelmed, but I think I’ll get used to it.” Both agreed that the Senior Retreat helped a lot because it gave them a better chance to talk to the other members of the class and to find things they had in common with them. Alex also added that Senior Study helps with bonding, because everyone is in there together, just talking, not spread out all over the school. Caitlin noted that attending NOCCA half a day was the one thing that made it harder to adjust to the class, since she was not able to hang out during lunch.

How does it affect the rest of the class when new students join? “I get excited and curious,” says Rachel B., who has been at McGehee since second grade. Rachel also said, “it just adds another character to the class…they merge well and it doesn’t change the class’ identity.” Everyone interviewed agrees that it is the senior class’ dynamic that makes it easier for new students to adjust. As Margaux F., who has been at McGehee since third grade, put it, “people in our class are very accepting.” Laura G., who has been at McGehee since the middle of fourth grade says, “everyone’s really friendly, and you could seriously go sit down with anyone and talk to them, and they’ll talk back,” however, “it also might be harder because we’ve really bonded over the years, but finding what you have in common with people really helps.” But Elise L., who joined the class in eighth grade said, “I think they are adjusting really well, they’re really nice people and I feel like we have welcomed them with open arms.” As Katherine K., who has been at McGehee since second grade summed it up: “I think that people fit in well with this class because we're so wild and we're really friendly, so I think that they don’t have a big problem adjusting because everyone learns their names the first day and is very welcoming.” Rachel adds “they’ve meshed with all of us and we're big fans!”

Both Laura and Elise offered the same advice to the new seniors: “Be yourself!” Laura added, “We’ll accept you…they accepted me, so they’ll accept anybody!”