The Life of a Year 7 Student

I can still remember the first day of Year 7, as we all made our way into the foyer. Some students filled with excitement, some anxious while others were just happy to have left behind the year 2020. Well, what a year it had been, I better not get started as I do not want to take away from the excitement and glory of Year 7.

Who would have thought that Year 7 students would be made to feel so special and important on this day, I’m sure all of us agree that the guard of honour was the best part! So, what has been happening in the distant world of the Year 7 students at Somerset? Parents, I’m sure you’d like to know.

The senior school is much different to the junior school in many ways. First, the locker room we get to use is amazing: we have a room filled with digital code lockers, 2 ping-pong tables and another room with a cupboard full of games and it is a great place for a chat.

PC: my fellow students may have told all their parents what it’s like and I’m sure it's different for everyone but for many students, PC has so far been a great experience to connect and communicate to many different students from Year 7 through to Year 12.

Finally, let's talk about Year 7 camp - by far the most exciting thing that has happened this year! Camp was an amazing experience for all the Year 7 students. We remember the exhilaration of the giant swing, the sweaty hands while climbing up the tree for the leap of faith and the competitive spirit while racing to bandage a fellow teammate in the survival challenge. There were several highlights from camp, too many to list! Many new friendships were made on camp and many existing bonds were strengthened on this fantastic journey up at Mount Tamborine, and for most of us drinking cordial with every meal is not a regular thing!

We all are eager to see what this year has in store for us and I’m sure that there will be many more new experiences to come.

Sash Kumar

Year 7 is our first year of High School. Everything is new to us. There are new students (Welcome to Somerset Guys and Girls!) new teachers, new talents, new expectations, new classrooms, new playing spaces, and so on. As we move further into the MYP we learn more about ourselves and our peers. But first, let's talk about the typical life of a Year 7 student.

So, all our days start the same way: we come to school and start playing with/talking to our friends. Then time rushes by and it’s already 8.30 am- we have to gather our thick, heavy books and rush off to class. Currently, we are doing assignments and assessments. By the time we come out of class, we’ll have learned so many new things, we can barely keep track of them. Now it’s time to run over to the next class where we have a different subject to refresh our minds.

“Yay, it’s Recess” and we all get a quick 20-minute break, so our minds get to cool down from all that hard (and smart) work. Then it’s to our hard work we go! Another whole hour of fun learning has gone by and wow, wasn’t that quick. Before we were hungry for knowledge and now my tummy's rumbling. (Is it cats or maybe raccoons…who cares…) it’s lunchtime! We stuff our books in our lockers and as fast as a flash, we race up to the dining hall. We have some time after our 30-minutes of eating to go and have some playtime/funtime. (No, you are not allowed on your mobile phone.)

Oh, lunch is already over. Time to go and get the books for our next classes, but before that, we have Pastoral Care. 12.50 pm – 1.20 pm, that’s PC. You are not allowed any devices, and not allowed to do your homework or work on your assignments. With so many No's, you would think it will be boring, but PC is the best time of day. We had 30 minutes of bliss with mindfulness activities and a chance to speak to other teachers and other students in that group. Why do good things have to end so fast?

Now PC is over, time to go up (or down) to our 2nd last class of the day and then the last class of the day. (Yay!) Everyone is tired yet so excited that the school day's almost over. “Yes! Finally, School’s done!" I’m excited to meet my little sis (Uhhh...not really…)!

Dyuthi Vuthpala