Kristen
我已經很熟識學校的一切，知道每一棟以英文字母為名的大樓在那裏，而且到處都是熟識的面孔……
我的名字是 Kristen, 不久以前，升上了高中二年級。
比起第一年上高中，我真的覺得現在囘到校園，比以前有信心得多。我已經很熟識學校的一切，知道每一棟以英文字母為名的大樓在那裏，而且到處都是熟識的面孔。去年，我覺得很徬徨又焦慮，怕迷路，又怕適應高中的學校生活，今年就輕鬆得多了。
新一學年，沉悶的課堂、繁重的功課、發表和考試是無可避免的。我的學校執行密集時間表，就是每一節課堂比較長，但每星期就不需要上很多次同樣科目的課。對於學生來説，我們要面對艱辛的課堂，加上緊密的時間表，但是有更多時間完成功課和專題研究。這的確是去年我最難適應的事情；要坐在同一個座位上一小時二十分鐘，讓我忐忑不安。
但是，到了夏天最後一個星期，想到將與朋友重逢的興奮，慢慢燃燒著的焦慮就減退了。對我來說，開學頭兩天出奇地令人振奮。我可以聽到朋友們講述在夏天的一切經歷，也會見到這一年我將會跟他們學習的所有老師。 我有新的課程，一個新的時間表和不同的朋友。
第一個學期我選了七科：三角、文學風格、新聞初階、中文2、化學、體育和美國政府。我喜歡寫作，這是我的興趣。到目前爲止，老師們看來很和藹可親，我真的很盼望下學期能加入甲骨文校報。至於我最不願意上的課，可能就是體育和三角了。所有朋友都知道我不是運動型，也討厭數學。跑一哩路是我就覺得好苦惱，我對很多人埋怨過這一哩路，他們都說我傻，爲了跑一哩路這種微不足道的事情而擔心，但沒辦法我就是這樣！至於數學，縂是覺得很困難，對我來説，數字不像字母一樣能與我溝通得到。
學校有幾塊聚集地，不同班別的人都可以去那裏休息。一年生的聚集地是一塊大草坪，上面有一顆大橡樹遮蔭。二年級有一塊小方地，夾在學校的劇院和學生活動中心的中間。三年級的地方幾乎不存在，也大概就在飯堂的旁邊。高年級就在活動中心的的另一面。雖然沒有明文規定那一年級的人要坐到那裏，但這已成爲一種不約而同的規律。剛開學，每逢早午餐時，我縂是回到一年級的地方，因爲不記得一年級的同學會坐在那裏；其實我並不太喜歡二年級的地方，因爲細很多。不過，相信過一段時間，我會越來越喜歡這裏的。
I’m Kristen, and not too long ago, I started my sophomore year in high school.
Compared to my first year of high school, I definitely felt more confident walking back on campus. I knew the campus well enough to know my way around all the alphabetically named buildings, and I saw familiar faces wherever I walked. Unlike my freshman year, full of uncertainties and worries about getting lost and adjusting to high school life, I felt comfortable at school this year.
With the new school year came the inevitable dread of monotonous class periods and relentless homework loads, exams and presentations. My high school has a block schedule, meaning that each class meets fewer times a week but for longer periods each time. For students, it means grueling sessions packed with tight schedules, but more time to complete homework assignments and projects. It was honestly one of the hardest things for me to adjust to last year. I got restless sitting in the same seat for up to an hour and twenty minutes. Because of the schedule, students sometimes even had to take multiples quizzes and learn material all in the same class period.
However, the excitement of reuniting with friends eased with slow burn of anxiety that I usually experience during the last week of summer. For me, the first two days of school are strangely exhilarating. I get to catch up on all the summer adventures that my friends have had, and meet all of the teachers that I’ll be learning from throughout the year. I have new classes, and a new schedule with different friends.
This first semester of school I’m taking seven classes: Trigonometry, Literary Style, Beginning Journalism, Chinese 2, Chemistry, Physical Education, and United States Government. The class that I was most excited to take this semester was Beginning Journalism since I enjoy writing as a hobby. So far, the teacher seems really nice, and I really look forward to joining the school newspaper, The Oracle, next semester. As for the class that I’m dreading the most, it would probably have to be either Physical Education or Trigonometry. All of my friends know of my unathleticism and hatred for math. Running the mile is extremely stressful to me. A lot of people I complain about the mile to always call me silly for worrying over something as small and trivial as running the mile, but I can’t seem to help it! As for math, I have always struggled with math, and numbers have never been something that speak to me the way that letters do.
Our school has several different quads that all of the different classes sit at. There’s the freshman quad, a large, grassy area shaded by a large oak tree, the sophomore quad, a small boxy area sandwiched by one end of the school theater and the Student Activities Center (SAC), the junior quad, which doesn’t really exist but seems to be located around the cafeteria, and the senior quad, another boxy area by the other side of the SAC. There aren’t any rules that state that members from each class have to eat at each of their respective quads, but at my high school that is the unspoken norm. At the beginning of the school year I kept going back to the freshman quad during brunch, a little break in the morning between classes, and lunch because I kept forgetting that new freshman were sitting there. So far I’m not a big fan of the sophomore quad just because of how much smaller it is, but I think that as the year goes on I’ll begin to like it more and more.
