The Start Of A New School Year

By Elizabeth Enriquez

As the school year was first beginning, students were getting their schedules from their counselors and seeing which classes they would have to take this year. Getting ready to start the year, preparing their belongings, and going to bed earlier than usual. Most importantly, students were seeing which classes they were going to adjust. However, as more students wanted to contact their counselors, the longer the lines to the counseling offices got. The first week is almost always stressful for every student, especially this year’s first week, however; how did the first week go for the counselors? Are they also stressed out? Are they also having to deal with a ton of work? I wanted to ask some counselors how their first week of school went for them and how they managed to deal with any issues that may have arisen.

One counselor, Mr. Gaviño, said that “the first week was good and manageable. It is a lot to manage the classes and teachers to keep it all balanced.” When asked if there were any issues that made that struggle harder, he said, “Not having a principal from the beginning made it more difficult, but together it was still manageable.” Another counselor, Ms. Sanchez, also said, “It was good, but there were some things out of our control that made it overwhelming. Though once you get into the groove of it, it goes a lot more smoothly.” Lastly, a third counselor, Ms. Ware, shared, “It was stressful because it was very overcrowded. On a good note, it was nice to see the new freshmen,” and the when asked if the issues got easier to deal with as the week went on, she said, “They were easier to manage over time.” 

These counselors seem to share the notion that this year in particular definitely started out pretty stress-inducing, with them needing to start going back to school even earlier than the students and having to deal with issues that were out of their hands. However, as the week went on, things got easier to manage and started to become more like second nature. The counselors always work hard to make things go well for all of the students, and it’s nice to see how the counselors deal with these conundrums behind the scenes. Here’s hoping that the school year will continue to go smoothly, not just for the students at Hayward High School, but for all the hard-working staff, such as the counselors!