Minnechaug Regional High School - Falcon Yearbook (Wilbraham, MA)

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Hiding their nerves on the big first day, fresh- men Cathy Cagnon, Amy Giantris, and Keely Fitzgerald show their style. How did you keep cool this summer? Vacationing on Block Island. — Susan Kibbe I went to the beach! — Amy Bentley Worked in an air conditioned Friendly. — Heather Wilkinson By babysitting inside. — Michelle Morgan Took the T-tops off my car and drank a lot. — Ross Gardner Partied! — Jeff Felix Laid out in the sun at Joey ' s! — Deana Nadeau Vacationed. — Emily Flanagan

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FIRST DAZE The first bell of the day rings loudly throughout the school. The multitude of questions begin: Was that the first bell? How much time do we have to get to homeroom? Where is my homeroom? These questions plague the teach- ers and upperclassmen on the first days of school. From the mouths of innocent victims, the interrogations spill forth. It can be quite difficult for a fresh- man to adapt to the overwhelming size of the Minnechaug environ- ment. On the first day, freshmen may feel fairly confident with their surroundings. Having studied the map and eagerly listened to the ad- vice of an older sibling, they feel they ' re ready to tackle anything. A few times they become lost and a bit disconcerted, but a helping friend comes to the rescue. Once the re- maining student body returns to school, freshmen seem to lose their grip on things. An upperclassman suddenly turns into an enemy; someone extremely unapproacha- ble. As for those unsociable and devious upperclassmen — they can be in just as much of a stupor those first few days. The majority of the tardy slips are issued to those students who have not yet learned how to wake up to an alarm clock or to master the concept of the snooze button on their clock ra- dios. If you think all upperclassmen have memorized the bell schedule, you ' re wrong. They saunter into class late and have been caught even walking into the wrong class. The difference is that upperclassmen get the dirty looks and disbelieving faces. Susan Fiedler, Jodi Garceau, and Jessica Winn roam the halls through their first day. David Desimone and Carolee Salerno assess their locker inventory during the first few days of confusion. STUDENT LIFE

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UNEQUALED STYLE! Beside the fact that we are con- stantly being cooed at and are considered the best target for slander, there aren ' t many reasons why it is special to be a freshman. It is a difficult transaction to change from being the big 8th graders to the lost, little people. We wonder if we Basically, being a sophomore means no longer being a freshman. There is also that feeling of superiority — we have a year of Minnechaug behind us. The freshmen don ' t, but we still have no status. We can ' t drive (yet), it ' s next to impossible to find a job, and we still are underclassmen. Being a sophomore would be much worse than it is if the Class of ' 90 wasn ' t the class it is. As senior class president Andrea Pietryka puts it, 1 really ad- mire the sophomores because of their support of school functions and athletic events and the pride they take in Minnechaug. We have spirit — and lots of it. would ever treat underclassmen un- fairly. Being an upper underclass- man seems an eternity away. Gradually, we are being accepted into the high school world. Rather than being lost in the sauce, we now go with the flow. Our spirit sets us apart from the typical sophomore class. We matter at Minnechaug and we ' re deter- mined to make a difference. We don ' t just fade into the woodwork. We have sophomore athletes on var- sity sports, sophomores on Model Congress, in Key Club, on the Year- book staff, and in almost all activities. Chaug ' s Class of ' 90 cares about its school, and isn ' t afraid to show it. We aren ' t willing to sit back and watch the year pass by. ' 87 wasn ' t ever cool, ' 88 will never rule. When ' 89 is dead and gone, the Class of ' 90 will party on. That ' s quite an atti- tude, quite a claim, and quite a path to follow! What day is B.C. coming? Are you taking SATs? Did you make an appointment for your license yet? Was I that small when I was a freshman? Are you go- ing out tonight? The words of a junior? Of course. Finally, after two long years of taking abuse, we are upperclassmen. A time in our lives that always has seemed so far away is now happening. Yes, many of us are now able to drive. Yes, many of us are thinking about college. And yes, all of us don ' t be- lieve that we were that small two years ago. Two years? Yes, it has been two years since we entered the halls of MRHS as intimidated fresh- men worried about seeing an upper- classman in the bathroom. We have come a long way and now stand to- wards the top. However, along with this title comes much added respon- sibility. This year most of us will be looking at colleges, taking SATs, try- ing to handle the heavy workload of junior year, and of course, selling magazines! Demonstrating his unique style as Todd Matthews looks on, Bernd Enre, an exchange student from West Germany, poses during an English workshop with actors from Stage West in the auditorium on October 20th. STUDENT LIFE