Gallery • 3 Photos

Staff Photo by Abigail Mosher

Addilyn Schlegel observes Wakefield's horticulture area.

“I went to a charter school for third through eighth grade. Then, I went to Heritage for freshman and sophomore year and now I’m here. The transition has been hard. Going into high school is hard in general. The hardest thing about going into high school from a charter school was I was used to being with thirty people for six years. Everybody knew everything about everybody. My whole world completely changed, as well as everything I thought I knew about myself. I didn’t know a single person going into high school. I had not-very-bad-but-definitely-there social anxiety that made it difficult. I was there for two years. I never found my people. I found a few people, and then those people changed, as the course of high school goes. In October of last year, I was redistricted to Wakefield. I had to decide if I wanted to be grandfathered into Heritage or try and start here. This was at the beginning of sophomore year and I had nobody, so why not leave? I know more people here. My sister was a rising freshman (currently a freshman) and I knew she would know more people here and would be happier here. Ultimately, I decided it was better to move. Then, [before transitioning to Wakefield] I met someone who I became really good friends with and it was a lot harder to leave the school, but I had to. So I came here. It was definitely difficult. That friend and I fell out, so this was a much needed new beginning.

 “The schools are different in ways I never expected. They are a lot stricter here. The atmosphere is different. Now I love both schools and they are both ‘my schools.’ It’s interesting because Heritage is where I became myself. I cut all my hair off and changed everything about myself from that old charter school. I became myself after months of really bad anxiety that spiraled into an eating disorder, so that sucked. Going into junior year at a new school, I was worried that it would be another freshman year, but it is not. I’ve met some awesome people and my sister is so happy here. It’s awesome having her here and I can’t even remember high school without her. 

“This is my sixth school. The funny coincidence is that I went to Wakefield Elementary for kindergarten and first grade, and now I’m back for the last two years of my education. I feel at home at both schools. I thought I would always be an outcast and never really find myself, granted, how much do 16-year-olds really know themselves? It’s been a crazy journey.”