My First Week of High School & The Silence I Didn't Expect

About the author: Karin, a Student Ambassador from Türkiye and leader of the Philosophy Club, has recently started high school and is sharing her journey with you in this article.

Before starting high school, I had all sorts of ideas in my head about what kind of environment I'd encounter. A new school, new teachers, new people, and a completely different routine... Naturally, I was a little nervous, but that nervousness wasn't about talking to people or making friends. I'm already a pretty social person. I love meeting new people, talking, debating, and experiencing different environments. What really made me nervous was not knowing what the high school environment, which I'd been looking forward to for so long, would actually be like.

Over the past few years, my school life hadn't always followed a normal routine due to my health journey. So for me, high school wasn't just about transferring to a new school; it also meant starting a more structured school life all over again. Still, I didn't want that to completely define my first week. After all, my illness is only one part of my life. I came to school with my own personality, my own thoughts, and the things I wanted to do.

To be honest, before I started, I imagined high school as being a bit more chaotic than it actually was. I thought I'd encounter people who talked more, debated more, mingled more, and got things done right from day one. The high school environment in my mind was quite lively.

The Quiet Classroom

Then I walked into the classroom.

And everyone was very quiet.

At first, I thought it was just first-day jitters. After all, no one really knew each other yet, and everyone was trying to get used to a new environment. But as the days went by, I realized that the class was generally really quiet.

I found this a bit funny because, while I normally consider myself just "social," I suddenly started to seem like the overly social person in the class. I was often the one who started talking to people, initiated conversations, or broke the silence when it went on a little too long.

At a certain point, instead of wondering, "Am I talking too much?" I started thinking, "Why isn't anyone talking?"

Questioning My Assumptions

Actually, this was the most unexpected part of the first week. Before starting school, I had some preconceptions about what people would think of me. I thought high school students might be more judgmental, tend to form tighter-knit groups, and be harder to approach. But what I encountered was pretty much the opposite. People weren't as distant as I'd imagined; they were just much quieter than I was.

Realizing this made me question my own preconceptions. I realized just how many scenarios we can come up with about a situation before we've even stepped into it. We predict how people will behave without even knowing them, and then real life comes along and doesn't really care about the scenario we've imagined.

Finding My Place

After the first few days, school started to feel more familiar. I began to get to know the teachers, understand how the classes worked, and talk to people more. On the first day, everyone was just a new face, but a few days later, I slowly started to see people's personalities.

I think that's what I liked the most. I love getting to know people. I find it fascinating to discover what someone is thinking, what makes them laugh, and what topics suddenly make them more energetic when they start talking about them. That's why, even though the silence in the classroom seemed strange to me at first, over time I began to see it as a new experience.

More Than Just Classes

I also started to feel, right from the first week, that high school life isn't just about the classroom. Clubs, events, projects, and the chance to meet different people excite me just as much as the classes themselves. It's especially important to me to have spaces where I can share my ideas, engage in discussions, and be active. A high school life where I just went to class and came home wouldn't have suited me anyway.

By the end of the week, most of the nervousness I'd felt on the first day had faded.

I hadn't figured everything out yet. I didn't know everyone in the class, I hadn't fully adjusted to the school's routine, and I still had no idea how the coming years would unfold. But not knowing what to expect no longer bothered me as much.

What I discovered

Perhaps the most important thing the first week taught me was that new beginnings don't have to be as big and intimidating as we make them out to be in our minds.

When I started high school, I was wondering how this new environment would welcome me. By the end of the first week, however, I began to ask a slightly different question:

What will I bring to this environment?

For now, I know at least part of the answer.

Probably a little more noise.