Starting off this year, Hamburg Area High School Staff has been starting to implement stricter rules and higher standards. Students now feel even more under pressure with these new expectations that have not been enforced since 2019. Coming back, some students receive shock and disbelief with the new “no backpack rule” and that we have to use lockers again. Some students such as Grace Cromyak, find it harder to get to class on time. 

     For some, lockers have not been used for three years. Now that we have to get back on track, this might be the first normal school year we have seen in a while. Some might find that a relief, while others are still stuck in the easy-going mindset. Many teachers understand that there is going to be a shaky start to the 2022-2023 school year. Yet, some students such as Abby Wahl, states, “Coming from middle school, using lockers is still a normal thing.” She also does not mind the rules and expectations because they do not differ too much from the expectations that were wanted in middle school. Abby Wahl also comments, “The high school isn’t much different from the middle school. There is just more responsibility and freedom. It was a shocker to me when they said we could have phones out. During middle school you couldn’t have it out at all, they made us power it off, silent it, and leave it in our lockers.”

     But other students, like Grace Cromyak, find these new standards a little harsh. “I really didn’t expect these new rules when I came back to school. Having to break a habit of carrying my backpack around and use my locker was hard. Especially now that we’re in 10th grade, the workload is heavier.”