Change is intimidating, even for those who appear to be fearless. For the transfer students at Old Rochester Regional High School, change meant leaving their friends behind and moving into an entirely new school system, completely unsure about what to expect.
These students are on a totally different playing field from the incoming freshmen, who only had to deal with a school switch. These students were forced into a lifestyle switch. Not having previously-established friends meant walking into a new school alone, starting over from scratch, and hoping to make friends.
In order to make these transfer students feel more welcome and more at home, the AmbassadOR Club held a new student breakfast. Invitations were handwritten by the AmbassadORs and sent to the new students of ORR. On Tuesday morning, AmbassadORs and transfers flooded into the Media Center, where food was shared and friends were made.
Although taking time out of the school day to meet new people may seem odd, the students involved felt it was helpful in order to meet the people whom they may not normally run into during the school day.
“A lot of us hadn’t had the opportunity to really meet them [the transfers],” said junior Tessa Camboia, “so it was really nice having a set period of time to talk to everyone.”
Members of the AmbassadOR club were asked to bring breakfast foods and drinks. Of course, this resulted in boxes and boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts. (What high schooler doesn’t love Dunkin’, after all?)
On top of donuts, there were homemade cinnamon rolls, fruit platters, orange juice, and a plethora of other delicious breakfast foods.
The students talked over their breakfast with old and new friends, everybody equally enjoying a sweet, delightful start to their day.
“We made their transition into this school easier,” thought Diana LaRock, an AmbassadOR.
Was this activity actually helpful, or a bust? Not one single student had anything bad to say about the breakfast.
AmbassadOR Josh Garcia believed it made students feel closer to each other.
“I think that it was a great way to bring the student body together and get to know one another,” Garcia said. Many, if not all, of the students felt the same way. A number of them expressed wishes for the breakfast to become an Old Rochester tradition, as junior Madison Barber said, “I look forward to it next year.”
Not only did the breakfast benefit the transfers from other countries, but also transfers from other school districts and school choice freshmen. As AmbassadOR Julia Barrett said, “I think it was especially nice for the freshmen who were school choice because they didn’t really know a lot of people, so we got to introduce ourselves to them.”
By Sienna Wurl
