By Miro ’28
The transition from the middle school to the upper school is both an exciting and a daunting experience. It took me a while to get into my routine, and while everybody’s routine is different, hopefully reading mine will make finding your own easier.
The first thing I do in the morning, like every other person, is wake up. Depending on who you are, the amount of time in between waking up and boarding the bus is different. For me, it is 25 minutes, which is definitely on the lower side. My alarm is set for 6:40 AM, and my bus leaves at 7:05. One day in our six-day schedule is a late start, when school starts at 10 AM. This gives me the opportunity to catch up on sleep and is something I deeply appreciate at Harvard-Westlake. On those days, I wake up 2 hours later.
Lucky for me, our cafeteria has a breakfast selection, with eggs, omelets, sandwiches, bagels, and so much more. After arriving at school at around 7:45, I eat breakfast, usually a bagel, and sometimes hot chocolate if it’s pretty cold. I talk to my friends before I leave for my first block (period). At the upper school, all blocks last an hour and 15 minutes. Although at first this seemed way too long for me, it honestly took very little time to get used to, and now it is the usual for me. We never have two blocks back-to-back; there is always either a 15-minute break, lunch, or an approximately hour-long office hour block. Some days, we have a sophomore seminar or advisory between classes.
For lunch, there are two cafeterias that sophomores regularly visit. The flag court cafe, opened in 2021, is used by a majority of sophomores, but anyone can use it. It is only open during lunch hours and has almost all the same options as the one down on the quad. On the quad, the plaza where the most students are generally concentrated, the cafeteria also has a sandwich booth, where students can choose from a wide variety of custom sandwiches. The food choices in general are very vast at the school, and there’s always at least one thing that you enjoy.
Lunch lasts an hour, and during this time I either spend time with my friends or attend a club. There are over 150 clubs and affinity groups at Harvard-Westlake, all student-led and organized by the student government. Some that I’ve attended are the Jewish Club, Video Game Design Club, Middle Eastern Student Association, and the History Club. I also occasionally walk into a club already in session, sometimes with a friend, and food is often provided in these meetings. Lastly, lunch is also a time to catch up on work or meet with teachers, which is highly encouraged at our school.
By the time the school day ends at 3:00 PM, I’ve finished 4 or 3 classes, depending on whether the day in the schedule is even or odd. On Wednesdays or Thursdays, I have fencing, which is my sport. Other athletes may have practice more often or have games/meets after school; in the case of the latter, they leave class early.
Transit back home is easy with Harvard-Westlake; there are 3 different buses that leave after 3. The first, the early bus, leaves at 3:30 PM and takes us on a similar route back to our stops. The late bus, leaving at 6:15 PM, takes us the same exact route, just later. I take this bus when I have fencing, another commitment after school, or simply just want to catch up on work. The last bus that leaves is the shuttle to the lower school campus, leaving at 4:55 PM. It leaves just in time to make the lower school’s late bus at 5:30 PM. From there, it takes the same routes back home – I like to use it if I want to leave school late, but not so late to get home at 7:00 PM.
While athletes may leave their practice a few minutes early to catch this bus, I often use it after hanging out with my friends. The upper school grants a lot more freedom and more options. While sophomores can’t go off campus for lunch, we can after school. There are a lot of shops and restaurants that are only a 7-minute walk from campus. Some very popular options for students are Go Greek, Alfred’s Coffee, Sharky’s, or anywhere in the Sportsmen’s Lodge. We are also incredibly lucky because our student government works to secure discounts at many of these places for students to use.
After arriving home, like any other student, I work on my homework and do whatever, usually play games or watch Netflix, before I go to sleep. Hopefully, this insight into my daily routine helps you understand what a day in the life of a sophomore in the upper school may look like.
