Growing up, we all saw glimpses of high school in the media. Movies like High School Musical, Grease, and so many others made us think of high school in a certain light, such as cliques, parties every weekend, and chaos unfolding left and right.  However, are these expectations true most of the time for anyone? 

In order to find out, we asked people who are completely new to high school, such as the freshmen who went from 7th to 9th grade and the sophomores who never got the proper introduction to high school they deserved, how their expectations lived up to reality. 

1. Expectation: I thought it was gonna be a movie but like in real life.

    Reality: It’s lowkey boring. Nathan Davidson, 9

2. Expectation: Pense que iva hablar puro ingles. 

Translation: I thought I was gonna have to talk pure English here.

    Reality: Puedo hablar espanol aqui y si me entienden. 

Translation: I can speak Spanish here and people understand me. Stephanie Sanchez, 10

3. Expectation: Calmer, I expected more fights and harder work. 

    Reality: It’s easier than I thought. Adrian Ramirez, 9

4. Expectation: Prison, sounded difficult to manage. 

    Reality: I was right. Kaitlyn Franco, 10

5. Expectation: Cool performances and definitely more high school bands like in the movies. Mainly punk.

    Reality: Sucks but it’s okay. Diane Quezada, 9

6. Expectation: I knew it wasn’t gonna be like a teen movie or anything remotely similar to them. 

    Reality: I wasn’t wrong. Leslie Caldera, 10

7.  Expectation: I thought high school musical.

      Reality: Definitely not high school musical. Aniyah Grant, 10

8. Expectation: As a little kid it was scary because I thought I was gonna get bullied.

      Reality: It was mid I didn’t get bullied. Ceron Brown, 9

9. Expectation: I thought they were gonna bully the gay kid.

    Reality: Some tried but it didn’t go through. Michael Pardos, 9

10. Expectation: Crazy parties, more stuff and trouble.

      Reality: It’s less chaos than I thought. Jose Tzintzun, 9

11. Expectation: I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to do a lot, like a prison. 

Reality: I got a lot more independence than I thought. Imani Dalton, 10

12. Expectation: I thought I was gonna have more fun.

      Reality: High school musical lied. Jocelyn Hernandez, 9