I believe we all grew up watching those amazing high school movies, like “Clueless”, “Mean girls” and any Disney movie ever. Did you think high school is going to be like that? Since I am not from the U.S. and the only things I knew about high school before coming to Randall was from the movies, I expected either a complete opposite or the full epic ”main character” experience. To be completely honest, it’s a little bit of both, at least for now. Sure there are no dance battles, food fights or mean girls sitting on the school’s throne during lunch, but there were definitely some moments where I was like “Wow, I guess I’m in the 2000s high school movie.”

 Now, let’s look at some differences between real life and fiction:

NOBODY USES LOCKERS

Might not seem like a huge deal to you, but you can’t even imagine my disappointment when after I asked how to find my locker, a teacher told me “Oh, actually, nobody really uses them anymore.” I was super excited about decorating it like those students from Nickelodeon’s show “Victorious” (and I was also secretly hoping someone will slip an anonymous love note).

CLIQUES AREN’T REALLY A THING

My first day here I was expecting lunch to be a big deal. I thought I was going to walk in the cafeteria and see all those groups of different people; nerds, theatre kids, gamers and of course, mean popular girls. I was prepared to eat my lunch in the bathroom just like Cady from “Mean Girls.”.Actually, people were super nice to me and I noticed people with different interests and styles sat together and enjoyed their differences. I am really glad this part is not similar to the movies, you can tell why.

TEACHERS ARE SUPER NICE

Before coming here, I was absolutely terrified because I thought teachers are going to be really cruel and strict. I thought their only purpose was to make students feel miserable, but in reality, teachers here are the sweetest people ever! They are always there to help you and greet you with a smile on their faces which can really make your day.

There is one thing that is exactly like the movies that I absolutely adore. It is HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL. The games, pep rallies, the spirit, the pride that students feel, it is just so wonderful and amazing and I am so glad I got to experience that.   

Overall, my experience here, even though overwhelming at times, has been amazing and I absolutely can’t wait for more adventures here at Randall!