Sophomores struggle to adjust in larger high school
HUB correspondent
Students pushed their way through the crowded breezeway next the old gym on their way to sixth period. A few older-looking students wearing football jerseys strode proudly by while a group of small sophomores scuttled around them.
A month into the DHS school year, sophomores continue to seek balance in their new, more heavily populated high school.
According to the school website, the student population at DHS is more than twice the size of any of Davis’s three junior high schools: Harper, Emerson or Holmes.
Sarah Norris likes the intimacy of the students at junior high, but because there are so many students, she finds that harder to achieve at DHS. “There are some people who I don’t see all the time. Everyone thought the high school was going to be everyone coming together, but I barely see anyone now,” she said.
Unlike Norris, Orya Lau loves the large amount of people at DHS. “It’s just nice to break away from such a tiny school and meet new people,” she said.
To Lau, the crowded hallways, bathroom lines and locker sharing are not intimidating. “I’m just going with the flow,” Lau said.
For Megan Dickson, a sophomore at DaVinci, the large population of DHS was a contributing factor in her choice to enroll at DaVinci.
“I love the fact [that DaVinci] has a smaller amount of kids so you can make more friends from different grades easier than you could at DHS,” Dickson said.
Although she prefers the smaller student body at DaVinci, Dickson thinks it’s possible for students to form close bonds, no matter what the population size.
“I think the best way for a student bond is you just have to have people willing to open up and let new ones in; it doesn’t really matter if it is a big school or not,” she said.
DaVinci sophomore Kundan Malik also took the population size of DHS into account when she enrolled.
“I knew if I went to DHS there are so many people there and so much drama, you can’t concentrate on school and stuff,” Malik said.
Coming to DHS for her French 3 class, Malik notices how separated DHS students are. “[At DHS] there are little cliques everywhere and at DaVinci it’s like one big group; we’re just one big family,” she said.
Malik also notes the large class sizes compared to the small classes at DaVinci.
“[In a small class], you learn more. If you’re shy, you have more room to speak up,” Malik said.
Sophomore Brittney Brooks has mixed feelings about the number of students at DHS.
“I like that there’s a lot of people to get to know, but at the same time there’s too many people you won’t get to know. The school’s just too big for that,” Brooks said.
