For freshmen coming from middle school, Lincoln is a brand new sort of thrill. Ninth graders find themselves grappling with new responsibilities and commitments, on top of keeping up their academic portfolios.

Freshmen are adapting to a new building, a new schedule, new, more demanding expectations, along with a larger community. Organization, says some students, is key to balance.

Freshman Ruby Berman, who is involved in band, choir and rowing balances her high school chaos with time management.

“I’ve been balancing school and my activities through studying during flex, and using any extra time in classes to get homework done for my extracurriculars, which I have five days a week,” said Berman. “I deal with stress by making sure that I have time to do activities outside of school and extracurriculars, like reading and just relaxing. I also deal with stress by making time for myself and hanging out with friends, and using my planner so that I don’t have stuff piling up.”

Similar to Berman, freshman Gretchen Brandle dedicates her free time to club soccer, futsal and Lincoln’s JV girls soccer. She says her responsibilities have shifted from middle to high school.

“I have to get myself places sometimes, and coordinate how I’m going to get there. I have a sister and a brother, and we all go to different schools, so it’s kind of difficult for my parents,” Brandle said.

Brandle says another challenge of being involved in sports, clubs and academics is that it’s easy to fall behind.

“Because [the JV girls soccer team] have to leave school early for games and such, and I miss a lot of my last fourth and eighth period classes, I’ve fallen behind a fair bit,” Brandle said.

Although it presents struggles, Berman and Brandle, like many students, believe that adapting to a high school environment offers many new opportunities, and with proper communication, time management and organization, high school can be a refreshing experience.