by Anushka Mathai, staff writer for The Quill
In this up and coming 2026 – 2027 year there has been a wave of new freshmen coming into River Hill for the very first time, and their opinions about high school life seem to differ vastly from what they originally thought the experience would be like.
In response to 5 questions asked about their high school experience so far, ninth graders were questioned about what they think is the most important factor when trying to get into college, how stressed they were about college, and things about high school they heard about and agree or disagree with. Freshman Raima Thakur thinks extracurricular activities take the lead in the most crucial factor when getting into college, saying River Hill as a school is “always pressuring kids into joining clubs.”
Several of Thakur’s peers agreed with her, saying “the more the better” when regarding how many activities one should do in high school, and that grades “don’t exactly stand out” when considering the makings of a unique college application. 9th Grader Caroline Broderick states “I’ve watched a lot of Instagram reels about it” when talking about the necessity for extracurriculars in college applications, suggesting a strong correlation between circulating online advice and what students actually believe to be true.
When thinking about myths that spread like wildfire about high school, many said that the teachers and students alike would “overhype the homework load” in middle school and exaggerated the experience. 9th Grader Rakiah Fokar says “They made it seem like the teachers won’t help you…teachers will help, you just need to ask.” Thakur made a similar comment, saying, “In middle school, older students would say that they ‘weren’t going to survive’ in high school, but so far high school has not been as bad as middle school, especially [not] as bad as 8th grade.”
Overall, while some questions still linger,the 9th grade class of 2030 seems pretty confident in their first year at River Hill.