I remember sixth grade, how nearly every week I heard something new about the ever-approaching junior high. My neighbor, a seventh-grader at the time, seemed to have a new story every week about the fights. Counselors talked to us about peer pressure and reminded us to stay away from drugs no matter what. Other counselors talked to us about picking the right group of friends, about not spreading rumors or gossip so that we would “have a much better junior high experience.”

My mom told me about “Oprah Winfrey Show” segments that addressed issues like sexual predators and kids choking each other for a high. My sister, who had already graduated from college, told me that she would never set foot in a junior high again. She said there were too many bad memories – memories of her friends turning their backs on her. Going into seventh grade, I was prepared to face more conflict than ever before, to dodge those people who would supposedly lurk the halls and try to sell me drugs, to avoid the fights and to possibly be friendless for a while.

Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s not as bad as all that.

I attended a private elementary school from which most of the girls were going to Southwest Junior High School. I was going to go to West. On the first day of seventh grade, I knew only one or two people in each class. I was quiet that day, and I worried about finding a group of friends. I thought that maybe I would have to work hard to fit into a group, and that it would be hard to fit in if I was just myself.

It’s not like that at all.

For the first couple of weeks, you can hang out with friends from elementary school. Besides, making new friends is so easy; I was almost forced to make friends because of the people in my classes. There were a few of us who had practically all of the same classes together. This nearly forced us to talk to each other, and once I got to know these people, we became good friends. I didn’t even try to fit in or please them. We just get along.

Maybe this isn’t quite as easy for everyone, but even if making friends isn’t as easy for you, you shouldn’t change yourself for friends. Not only is it, as the counselors told us, a bad choice to give into peer pressure, it’s unnecessary. There are so many people in junior high, you’re bound to find people who like you as you are.

One way to meet friends with similar interests is to join a club or sport. Not many sports are offered to seventh-graders, but there are a lot of clubs. Find something you’re interested in, and you’ll meet people who have something in common with you.

Sixth-grade fears about attending junior high school aren't so bad when you remember that everyone else in your class will be experiencing the same thing. With some advice from a current seventh-grader, you can ease the pain of finding yourself in a situation like the one shown in this photo - unable to open your locker with other students watching you. Acting for the photo, from left, are seventh-grade students at West Junior High School, Katherine Corliss, Rosie Murray, Taylor Cole, Lily Robinson and Victoria Gilman.

Classes, drugs and friends

In every grade, there are good teachers and bad teachers. Seventh grade is no different. In the same way, there are good classes and bad classes. If you are in a class with people you don’t like, you don’t have to be friends with them. You do have to at least tolerate them, though. Just do your work and try not to start any drama, which can get you into trouble with friends, teachers and parents. Just sit through the bad classes and wait for the good ones.

Each junior high in Lawrence has a different nickname, and West’s just happens to be “the drug school.” This scared me before I went to school there. I thought there might be people who sat in the hallway and smoked marijuana. I didn’t know how often I would see drugs or how often I would see people who do drugs. The truth is that every junior high has a few people who are on drugs. West doesn’t have any more than any other school, and the actual number of people on drugs is very low. Those people aren’t public about it, either. They won’t try to get you to try the drugs. In fact, I don’t even know any specific person who does drugs. I only know of one or two people who are suspected of smoking pot. Basically, it’s good to be prepared to resist drugs, but you will probably not be offered any in junior high.

Between stories from my sister and from my neighbor, I was wary of what my friends would do once we got into seventh grade. What if they turned their backs on me, or what if they suddenly wanted to beat me up? I didn’t think this sounded like my friends, but there was still a glimmer of fear in my gut as I prepared for seventh grade.

Fights, like drugs, are easy to avoid. Many seventh-graders I know have never even seen a fight. Most of the fights are between girls, and they’re mostly within a particular group of people. If you see a fight, the best advice is probably to walk away. If it turns out to be a major brawl, the victim’s parents can press charges on everyone who cheered for the aggressor. It’s easiest and safest to just walk away so you don’t get involved in the drama.

Better than expected

One of the best aspects of human beings is our ability to adapt. Most of the problems I worried about before seventh grade started were valid, but very minimal. There might be a little more drama in junior high, but for me it hasn’t been much.

Also, junior high brings many good things, too. You’re given more freedom and more opportunities, both in school and out. The difference between grade school and junior high also teaches many lessons. Perhaps the most obvious of these lessons is that what you expect and prepare for isn’t usually what you get.

In junior high, especially in my experience, what you get is much better.

Survival tips

1. On the first day of school, bring a map

of the school. I was utterly confused about where to go on the first day.

2. Keep in mind that first impressions aren’t everything. On the first day of school, I was positive that a certain girl would be mean and exclude me. We are now best friends.

3. Rest assured that changing for gym is NOT a big deal. Remember that everyone else is changing, too.

4. Join some sort of club or sport. It’s hard for seventh-graders because not many sports are offered, but being involved in an extracurricular activity helps you meet people with similar interests.

5. You might want to cheat and set your locker combination each morning before class starts, but don’t. People walk down the hallways, lifting the handle on each locker they pass to see if it will open. Leave at least one number that you have to turn so no one will steal things from your locker.

6. Always have the power to walk away if you have to, whether it’s from a bad or mean group of people, from a fight or from a person on drugs.

7. Try not to worry about junior high. It’s still just school!

– Tips by Victoria Gilman

– Journal-World Teen Board member Victoria Gilman is a seventh-grader at West Junior High School.