There is always the thought when we walk into that giant high school building for the first time: “What will happen? Will I be confronted by the school’s main jock? Will I be humiliated in the hallways? Will I be pushed into a locker that would be impossible to fit in alone?”

The first day of high school can be terrifying for an incoming freshman. The only way they know what high school is like is through their older brother or sister or all of the cliche teen drama movies displaying the brutal and horrifying place where unassuming students are tortured every day of their high school life. Either way, it does not sound like a great place.

That is bologna. Movies can give a false impression of high school and can scare many incoming kids. Kaleb Foreman, a sophomore now in high school, was not going into high school seeing it as a joyful place. He said that he expected high school to be like “something you would see in a tv show, where the giant, huge seniors or upper class man shove you into lockers and throw you into trashcans.” Movies and T.V. shows only create those horrible situations to make them more intriguing and drama-filled. That is not how all schools operate. Kaleb’s expectations were a lot different than what actually happened. His first day he did not encounter any bullies, his lunch money did not leave his pocket on someone else’s accord, and he did not see any freshmen in trashcans.

However, some of his expectations matched what actually happened his first day. Before Kaleb entered high school, he pondered if there would be “cliques” in high school, where people stay within certain groups of friends. His first day he said he never left his group. “I always eat lunch with the same people, and I never really go from one group to the next.”

Olivia Stone, a freshman, had a different perspective. She thought it would be strange her first day because she only knew a few people from elementary school. “Everyone was already with their groups because they either came from Aspen Creek or BHMS. So, I thought I was going to be singled out [since I came from Peak to Peak].” She even expected to sit alone at lunch. However, that is not what happened her first day. She ended up making a lot of friends and ate in the courtyard with them for lunch. “I thought it was completely fine on the first day,” Olivia said. When she was asked if it was difficult to make those friends, she said it was “extremely easy, actually.”

Even though there is the chance that some bad things may happen the first day of high school, it seems as if people are only expecting the worst. The truth is, high school is not as bad as every Disney high school movie makes it. High school is a place filled with life and hundreds of opportunities, so do not let the expectations overrule the reality.