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The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

The Harriton Banner

The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

The Harriton Banner

The Nine People you Meet as a Freshman

Jena+Verlin%2FThe+Harriton+Banner
Jena Verlin/The Harriton Banner

Julia Geftman
Staff Writer

Deny it all you want, but many of the new faces you run into freshman year are easily categorized. Whether it’s the person consistently attached to his/her cell phone, or the burly quarterback in history class, classmates fit nicely into the following nine stereotypes:

The Overachiever

Jena Verlin/The Harriton Banner
Jena Verlin/The Harriton Banner

The overachiever is the president of every club Harriton offers and is in the process of starting the ones our school doesn’t. Their 98%s on tests don’t quite satisfy them because they just aren’t quite 100%s. While some of us spend our extra minutes of the day on our school computer trying to figure out new ways to access AIM, these students spend their free time rechecking homework, applying for internships, and curing cancer. Nothing for this special bunch is ever quite good enough.

The Partier
The partier is the kid that shows up forty minutes late to class, yet hours early to the dance floor. On Mondays, you hear crazy stories about them, even if you don’t know who they are. No one is really sure if they’ve got parents, but they’ve got a large basement and that’s all that really matters to them. These future Paris Hiltons are constantly ready to get down.

The Jock
The Harriton athlete isn’t one of the hardest to pick out. We all know the MVP’s of our very own all-star Harriton teams by just taking a glance down the hall. It’s the student who can be found in the weight room during Ram period, whose favorite class is gym, and whose never caught without his/her jersey on.

The Entertainer
Harriton has a variety of entertainers. While some of us are focused on our after school activities, these students are focused on staying prodigies of singing, dancing, and memorizing their scripts. However, these students aren’t just together after school at their daily play rehearsal; you can catch them hanging together on the social scene hitting up Milkboy or watching the movie version of this year’s show at someone’s house. These theater geeks definitely bring life to Harriton through their many talents.

The Senioritis Patient
Every freshman meets at least one Senioritis patient. Although we aren’t even half way done the school year, life for these patients is pretty easygoing. Their daily routine consists of skipping class and just enjoying life. It’s too bad the doctor hasn’t found a cure for these kids yet. In the meantime, these slackers are rushing their way out of high school as easily as they can.

The Teacher’s Pet
By the time you have survived the first month of high school as a freshman, it is pretty easy to realize who the teacher’s pets of your classes are going to be for the rest of the year. It’s the ones that wriggle in their seats while they excitedly raise their hands to answer questions, the ones that offer their help to the teacher at unnecessary times, and those who ask their teachers how their weekends went. Harriton has its group of suck-ups and even freshmen know who they are. Whether these pets need a raise in their grade or just want to be the favorite, they never stop working at it.

The Awkward Classmate

No, African/Asian Studies and Biology aren’t just for freshmen. Several sophomores, juniors and seniors also manage to make it into these classes if they are lucky. Whether these kids ended up in your freshman-level class because they previously failed this course and need to retake it or because they have a special situation, they are always the odd one out. By this time, I would hope that you have learned a little bit about the uncomfortable student in your class. However I wouldn’t be surprised if you have yet to say a word to this mysterious kid.

The Social Butterfly

Even as a freshman, students manage to quickly expand their number of contacts in their address book. Students that are this popular are pretty lucky. A name is never new to these kids because of their active social life. They know everyone there is to know and have everyone’s phone number stored. These social butterflies are livin’ it up with as many friends as possible in the new school.

The Facebook Friend
Undoubtedly, before entering Harriton, every freshman has at least one classmate that they friended (or were friended by, for the more popular kids) before school started on Facebook. Whether you talked over the Internet before school started about how preseason was going, or what your outfit was going to look like on the first day, meeting the Facebook friend in person is definitely uncomfortable. The first time you encounter her, you can be sure to either be completely ignored, or to have the awkward “Hey, aren’t we Facebook friends?” conversation. Regardless of how it happens, the introduction between you and your “pre-high-school Facebook friend” is sure to be an awkward experience!

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