Following an eight-period Wildcat Day schedule, 1937 students started school today. For the school’s 10th year, 501 of those are freshmen. As they used the gold-colored schedule printout to find their classes with help from senior mentors, here’s how 10 students reacted to their first day as Wildcats.

“I didn’t know what to expect with high school because there are all these myths of freshmen getting thrown into lockers and ‘Freshie Fridays’ but I guess it was a good first day to start off the school year.” -Sarah Hyden said

“My first day at high school was cool. I’ve even asking randoms to show me where my classes are. I’m glad I woke up an hour earlier than I usually do so I could do my hair and makeup because I saw a cute boy. Luckily my sisters a senior so her and her friends have been really nice to me.” -Kodell King

“I fell out of bed this morning, and thought, why is my alarm clock going off? And then I realized, oh wow, school!” -Chris Snook

“My experience today was very similar to the one I had in mind because my sister goes here and gave me the basic information of what it’s going to be like, it was just like I thought. There there was a lot of people and a crazy scedule and a long lunch which I liked.” -Taylor Defelicca

“[Finding classes] was a little hard; I mostly asked help from other students that looked like they were older.” -Amber Smith

“I got up 45 minutes earlier than usual this morning. I’m the kind of person that has to actually sit down and eat breakfast so it takes me longer to get ready. I was really nervous about what to wear and ended up changing my outfit a few times.” -Meghan Townsley

“My favorite part of the day was making new friends.” -Garrett Engelsgaard

“My day’s been pretty great. Everything’s just so new, it’s a new system, it’s a lot different from middle school. But it’s really fun, the teachers are really welcoming. It’s a great experience at Whitney, and I can already tell it’s a really great school.” -Emma Kachmar said.

“It’s been pretty good I like it, [the upperclassmen] showed me around campus and where my classes were.” -Monica Bustamante

“I got lost everywhere and my sister told me that I didn’t need a planner because they were all supposed to get them today. The upperclassmen were helpful and gave me lots of directions.” -Hannah Blackwell

by ARIELLA APPLEBY