”Freedom is nothing but a chance to get better”-Albert Einstein

Tom Murdough

How could ninth grade be better?

10/9/19

English 9

                       Being with friends, and having fun with them is an essential part of boyhood. This year, as we move on to our High School days, means the end of our boyhood in a way. High School means more work, commitments, and less free time to hang out with friends, and free time in general. Personally, I feel that ninth grade at Fenn has helped make the transition from being a middle schooler with all the free time in the world, to a high schooler that struggles to find the time to eat a real dinner with his family.

At Fenn, we are given a good amount of free time, and a good amount of work. I think that it is the perfect balance. At least on the days when teachers don’t assign me three essays, six pages of math homework, and having to learn one hundred different Spanish verbs in one night. of the few critiques that I have, is the amount of study halls that we get. There are some days where I feel like I have a list of never ending assignments, and I am unable to get them done before I should be going to bed. A study hall on these days would be extremely beneficial to the quality of my work, the amount of sleep I get, and the amount of free time that I have. The more sleep I get, the fresher, more focused, relaxed, and less stressed I am the next day. We are given two thirty minute study halls each week. I believe that is not enough. It doesn’t even really make a difference unless I have a night of homework that will last thirty minutes, or if I have a test the next day. The study halls that we are given are almost pointless as they are only thirty minutes long twice a week. I think that something more like what the middle schoolers have is more reasonable. One hour every day, every day of the week. That is one of the few things that I would change about our ninth grade year.

The other thing that I would change about this year, is senior time and the amount of freedom that comes with it. This is not necessarily an issue, but it is something that would make our senior times more exciting. We are allowed to be in the gym lobby, the turf, the green, or the gym. Every once in a while, our grade is allowed to go over to the Boonisars house and play knee hockey, mini basketball, and drink sodas with friends for a limited period of time. I feel like a cool addition to senior time, would be for our grade to walk into town for an hour or so, and enjoy ourselves. We could get pizza and ice cream with friends, or just take a walk around town. This would be a lot of fun for our entire grade and I strongly believe that it is something that we should do in the future. Our grade should have more options, and more freedom at senior time.

Ninth grade is a great opportunity for us to bridge the gap in between our boyhood, and high school days. Most days, I feel like I’m in high school and I have to stay up until late. This is when a daily study hall would come in handy. As ninth graders we should be give some free time, and it should be well spent. This is how I would improve our ninth grade year at Fenn.