On Aug. 16, the annual Freshman Late Night event was hosted for the rising SIS freshman to foster a sense of unity and bonding through a night of games, water gun fights, and food. However, juniors have been facing a different situation, with the new school year bringing an expected yet overwhelming amount of coursework, pressure, and, surprisingly, stratification. 

Since the first day of school, juniors were complaining about not being able to see certain people all day just because their classes and hallway routes never overlapped anymore.  

The students have also complained that there are no areas for juniors to sit in the hallways on the second floor compared to the spacious third floor that juniors had resided in during their freshman and sophomore years. 

“I feel like there has definitely been a lot of grade-wide or social separation,” Justin Hong (11) newly risen junior, said. “Because of the amount of school work and the overall pressure in junior year, there is always a feeling like there’s a lack of time to do anything, even socialize with friends. And there is nowhere to hang out anyways, because of the lack of seats on the second floor compared to the third.” 

This reflects the sentiments of the majority of students in junior year. Although it is a year notorious for its horror stories of this change in workload, hearing about it light years away compared to experiencing it are antipolar concepts.   

So what could alleviate this stress? 

One of the most requested activities from the juniors has been a grade-wide lockdown: a night of movies, food, and talking in school—without the additional pressure.

“There have been a lot of requests for Junior Late Night,” Woosung Choi (11), HSSC member, said. “So the idea would be somewhat parallel to freshmen late night, which has been an HSSC tradition for many years, but instead of creating unity for the sake of introduction we do it to bring the grade that has been split by an intense workload back together. But Mr. Macklin would get the final say and we have already talked multiple times and failed to get it approved.”

However, there are valid reasons behind this decision as well. 

“I do not think that the lack of unity is the reason that the junior class may be feeling a sense of disconnect,” Gray Macklin, high school principal, said. “My guess as to what the junior class might be feeling is that you guys are starting to realize is that it’s not going to feel like this forever—there is an end to childhood, and you’re approaching it. You guys already had a Freshman Late Night, and there will be some Senior events, but right now, you’re supposed to be connecting to the rest of the school, trying to learn as much as you can from the rest of the seniors and connect a bit to the underclassmen; they’re the ones who will help you next year.”

Perhaps the feeling that something is different with classes, friendships, and even the floor structure, is simply part of growing up. 

“It is great that the class of 2026 is now noticing and feeling that sense of growth is great; lean into the discomfort,” Mr. Macklin said. “The hard thing for me is that I’ve seen it so many times that I can’t appreciate how new it must feel for you.”