As the school year begins, we see old and new faces. As students settle into school or begin a chapter, students share their experiences so far.

Austin Zhu, a senior, says his goals for this year is “to have mad fun.”

He’s most excited for the senior trips because “I feel like it’s a good time to bond with my classmates.” 

His senior year so far is “mad good, because of upcoming senior trips. I also get to chill with my friends, and cause I got mad aura.”

For him, the scariest part of this school year is “graduating, because after high school is when things get real. I have to do adult things, pay taxes and college is highly expensive, but it’s worth it.” 

Jhon Matos, a junior, wants to “try to get on the baseball team for short shortstop or first base position.”

He says this year is harder than last year, because “Algebra 2 is harder than geometry.”

Emily Juarez, a sophomore is “mostly excited for the trips and to get the work because it’s new.  Emily says this year is harder than the last year because “I feel like it’s much harder because of geometry.”

Emily’s goals for the year are to get better grades and improve her attendance.

Zully Mendoza, a freshman, says the school year is going good so far because of her friends by her side. She likes Bronx River because of “the snack store that has a lot of options to choose from and the clubs have new things to try for.” 

“I want to join volleyball, soccer and student council,’’ she says.

Zully adds that she’s “made quite a lot of friends, and I have at least 15 friends in general.”

She says that the difference between middle school and high school is the grading by saying, “Well, if you don’t turn in the work then you lose 5 points.”

Jayleen Godinez, a junior, is “very happy and excited to see my friends again.” 

She says her goals for this year are “to get straight A’s, to get through this year and to finish it strong and motivated.”  

Jayleen says this year is much harder than last year because “I have to manage college classes, soccer and homework.”

Jayleen’s favorite class is English because “Ms. Pena makes it really fun.”

Leam Estevez, a freshman, says what he likes about Bronx River is “there’s funny people because they make me laugh and happy.” 

He shares the amount of friends he has made so far: “I’ve made about 4 friends and I have past friends from middle school too.”

Leam’s goal for this year is to pass all his classes.  He also wants to “join soccer because I enjoy the sport.”

Maydelin Perez, a sophomore, likes the start of school. “It’s going alright, because we don’t really do work,” she said. 

She hopes to “experience new things, because it’s nice to try new things.” And she plans to skip clubs and sports. “I wanna have free time, me time.” 

Her goals for this year are “to pass all my regents.”

She says how different this and last year are, “this school year is more normal, because you’re already used to what’s coming up.”

Emerson Larios, a freshmen, says what he likes about Bronx River, “everything, like the classes and the teachers.”

Emerson also says what clubs and sports he’s looking forward to, “I’m already in the soccer team because that’s what I like to do.”

He also shares how his school year has been so far, “Not bad at all.”

However, he says, “I don’t like high school because it’s different from middle school from the different vibes it gives.”

His goals for this year are, “to pass my classes because I want to make my mom proud.”