By Mae Mae ’27
Picture this: You just made it onto the Harvard-Westlake Middle School campus for your first day of seventh grade. You look around and see unfamiliar faces laughing, already grouping. You don’t know how to meet potential friends and contacts on campus, being the only person from your school transferring. This situation is one many students experience– but lucky you, you decided to check the Student Ambassador Blog to try and find some tips and tricks! This blog will disclose some crucial tips for seventh graders to prepare for their first day, week, and month at Harvard-Westlake!
First of all, acquaint yourself with the websites and technology Harvard-Westlake uses. Once you begin the introductory program Harvard-Westlake offers, you’ll receive an account comprised of a username and a password, both unique to each student. Switch from Safari to Google, if you haven’t already, and log into your Google profile. Inform yourself of the websites we use to ensure efficiency and simplicity in classes. The Hub, which is accessible both by searching up hub.hw.com or by the Canvas Student app, and Google Classroom in some cases, will be the main route in which you can search up your homework, schedule meetings with your teachers, and complete assignments. The Harvard-Westlake Website, or hw.com, can be used to view your schedule for the first and second semesters. Mail.hw.com is the primary way to communicate with teachers, administration, and other students professionally and be notified of upcoming activities. Make sure you can navigate safely and quickly around these electronic forums, and you’ll have a much easier time settling into your seventh grade routine.
However, the internet is not the only key route to building a social network with classmates. It can be an intimidating task to meet new people and make new friends, but it can make school life so much better to study with a schoolmate or walk to and from classes with people you know. Exercising that extroverted side of yourself can benefit you and others in so many ways. Keep in mind that people want to know you. Ways to branch out and discover friends can be as simple as being partnered up with different people in classroom projects, or you can challenge yourself by joining a club that can attract people who share interests with you. Regardless, don’t be intimidated by talking to somebody. Harvard-Westlake strives to create a friendly, inclusive community, and the administration is always there to aid you if you feel you’re struggling in any field.
I know it’s daunting to go through such a drastic change of scenery and undergo the experience by yourself. Remember, the world of Harvard-Westlake is at your fingertips. Seventh grade can seem terrifying, even if it’s at the same school as the year before. Even if some roadblocks seem endless at times, we will always find ways to get through them!
