Lauren Koelsch has enjoyed her transition into high school, largely because of sports–this 5’11 freshman is finishing up her first season on the West Potomac JV Girls’ volleyball team.

“I really like knowing and having older teammates,” she said.  

Even though she is now at the bottom of the totem pole as a freshman, Koelsch still feels older and more mature than last year.  

“Just being in high school makes everything cooler!” she said.

Koelsch is a typical freshman in her enthusiasm about high school, something that english teacher Jacqueline Livelli can confirm.

“These freshman definitely have a lot more energy that older students do, but they sometimes need a little bit more reassurance than sophomores, juniors, and seniors do,” she said.

Koelsch might need reassurance about her full plate of extracurriculars and academics. She completes the majority of her homework during homeroom, and on volleyball game days she tries to finish up school work on the way to her games.

“The bus can be really loud sometimes,” she says.  “I try my best to stay organized with all my schoolwork and sports things.”  

This balance is tough to strike.

“Making free time is not always easy,” she says.  “Even on free nights I come home exhausted from the day.”

Even if she lacks free time, Koelsch gets her social time in during the school day.

“I really like the new block schedule,” she said. “I like seeing a new group of my friends every other day at school.”  

Lauren admits that it can be hard to remember her rotating period work for each silver day, especially after a long volleyball practice everyday after school. Livelli, however, likes to take advantage of the additional time.

“I like having a return period for classes,” Livelli said.  “It allows students to receive additional assistance with assignments, and complete missing work.”