Every year the Birdcage welcomes around 200 new Raptors. They enter, young and full of excitement, unaware of what’s to come in the next four years. Friend groups form, they begin to learn how tedious the workload becomes, and every freshman starts to shape their opinion of their new school. The differences between their middle schools and Magnet become prevalent within just a few days and the adjustment is less than delightful. From the newfound intensity of Physical Education to the stress of a biology microscope test, the changes may be overwhelming. All of this led us to wonder… “What are they thinking?” Well Raptors, there is no better way to find this out than walking around and interviewing them! Let’s learn their stories…..

Here are some of the questions that we asked the AMHS freshmen we found scattered about the Bonds-Wilson campus:

• Where did you go to middle school?
• What are your first thoughts?
• Which classes are your favorites and which are your least favorites?
• Did you want to come to Magnet or did your parents want you to?
• Are you going to be attending the football games?/what’s the theme?
• Do you play any sports?
• Thoughts on the fact our phones might be taken away?
• Thoughts on PE?
• What are you most excited about?

Owen Astle:

-Attended Buist Academy

Our first victim was Freshman Owen Astle. Owen frequently visits my lunch table so I have already gotten to know him a little bit. When I asked him what his first thoughts on Magnet were he was quick to say, “Small.” Thank you for the details Owen, your experience is really being put into perspective. We asked him about his classes and he told us that the infamous freshmen P.E. class was “boring” and that he didn’t like the “warm-ups part where we walk in a circle” for the first couple minutes of class. I’d have to disagree, my favorite part of P.E. was the warm-ups. There is no better place to chit-chat than walking in a circle in the middle of the gym. Thanks for chatting with me Owen, it sounds like you are very optimistic about the year to come. 

Judd Waggoner:

–Attended Buist Academy 

Judd is an up-and-coming star here in the Magnet sports department. Judd is playing football this season and got to play in his first game of the season. He will also be playing lacrosse this spring. Apart from sports, Judd is very studious. He told us his favorite class so far is “AP Computer Science Principles” because he says that he is “a very creative person, and enjoys making different apps.” AP CSP is a very fun and laid-back class, especially for underclassmen, so if you need any interesting electives in the years to come, definitely consider CSP. Judd’s older sister, senior Sousa Waggoner, says “I think it is super cool to have a brother going to school with me, but I don’t think it is cool when he starts brushing his teeth one minute before we have to leave and leaves his smoothie in my car.” As fun as having Judd around is, I’d have to agree seeing as he left his coffee in my car last Friday. Let’s work on cleaning up Judd.

Nina Pistorius

-Attended Cario Middle School

Nina is another freshman this year who we  to met when we interviewed a handful of Mr. Lovering’s Principles of Engineering Students. Nina is a multi-sport athlete this year; she is currently on the girls’ volleyball team and plans to play basketball in the winter/spring. She said Magnet “seems like a really nice school” and enjoys it so far, saying “It’s a lot of work, but there’s a lot of fun stuff” which we think is a great way of describing the Magnet experience. So far, Nina said she has had the most work in her English class by far. Nina had lukewarm thoughts when we asked her about her PE class, not hating it, but just saying that it’s okay so far. Nina enjoys Biology and the interesting subjects that are covered in this Magnet rite of passage. She said she wanted to attend Magnet and her parents strongly encouraged her, but most likely wouldn’t have forced her to go if she didn’t want to go. It was great to meet Nina and welcome her to the Birdcage!

Hank Garrett, Owen Farr, Rowan Podolski:

-All Attended Buist Academy??

We had quite a hard time finding students who did not go to Buist, which made more sense when Hank told us that “there are like 40 people from our grade who came from Buist.” These Buist kids told us that their phones got taken in middle school so they think the upcoming phone ban is “not very good.” The jump from middle to high school typically allows students to become more independent, but with these new regulations, the freshmen are “not excited.” We also learned that all three of these students have older sisters that also attend Magnet. This is an incredible plus for your freshman year since nobody likes riding the bus. They all said that their sister’s have told them that Magnet was going to be the hardest in their freshman year, and when we asked if they agreed, they eagerly nodded yes. Regardless of this, Hank’s favorite class so far has been AP Human Geography which is an awesome choice for an AP class in your freshman year. He said he wasn’t really feeling English, which I’m sure some people can relate to. In all, these boys seem like they are having a great year so far, even if they were a little too excited to be pulled out of class to be interviewed.

Although we only got to talk to a few freshmen this past week, we are so excited to get to know the rest of you. It was great to see some familiar faces in this new environment and meet some new Raptors who just made the switch in the past few weeks. Hopefully, you got a good taste of your fellow Raptors from learning a little more about them and enjoyed it just as much as we did. Stay updated with all things Magnet life on The Talon and make sure to keep showing that school spirit as we make our way through the new year!