For those of you starting freshman year, you may think it is exciting and a new beginning because you can meet new people and join clubs. While others might think it is intimidating due to the late nights of homework, or walking onto the big campus.

“The scariest part of coming into O’Connor was not knowing my way around the campus,” sophomore John Locke said.

The school is a large campus, and the first few days can be very overwhelming, but there are maps all around that end up helping many students “I would have to say the best thing you can do is memorize where your classes are, and taking a picture of the map,” sophomore Maddie Schmitto said.

Even if you haven’t been to prep day, and you have not memorized the building, there is always administrators that would offer you help if you get lost. There are many things you can do to make your freshman year less stressful, including keeping up with your grades and doing your work that was given.

“What helped me was not procrastinating, and keeping up with my grades,’’ Locke said.

Work can eventually start piling up and it can be stressful, but there is plenty of time to get work done during school hours.

“The best time to get my homework done was during lunch, in the library (B102), as well as getting it done during tutoring,” Schmitto said.

Many teachers offer help in any way you need it whether it is the college tutors in the library or teachers that offer tutoring.

“The most helpful teachers were Mrs.Thornton my English teacher,” Locke said,
“If a student isn’t flagged by their teacher, and hasn’t flagged them- selves by the time Flexisched locks at 5pm the day before FLEX, I as- sign the student a place. The first place I fill is the computer labs. If students are near a computer or in a quiet computer lab they can still work even though they may not have found a place on their own through FLEX. The second place we fill is the library, and then after that, the Cafeteria. If the student’s teachers have open spots, I’ll flag them there too,” Thornton said.

Some students may also wonder what classes can override what other classes in order to flag a student that had already been flagged somewhere else.

“Core teachers will have priority days that go in alphabetical order. The first day of FLEX, English held the priority, the second day will be math, science, and then social studies,” Thornton said.

Thornton also states that if a teacher wants to flag a kid from another teacher, but neither have priority, the teacher who flagged the student first takes the priority.

If students or parents have any questions about FLEX, they can as their teachers or Mrs. Thornton in room B102.