By Catherine Pears
Co-Editor-in-Chief

As a newcomer to WA this year, I had the ability to observe the school and student population from a different perspective. Coming into the school, I only knew about five people- none of which were in my classes; I decided I wasn’t going to play any sports- although I’d played one every season my freshman through junior years; and I was set on coasting through my classes- because how could a public school possibly be any harder than a private school?

Looking back, there are definitely some things I was wrong about. First of all, my grades dropped. Westford Academy’s reputation is not without support. Although the restrictive “rubric” system was frustrating- as I was used to a setting where we called teachers by their first names and homework was to watch the cows on Gibbet Hill and reflect on our emotions- many of my classes were demanding and engaging. In fact, as someone who wanted (and still does) to be a journalism major in college, I had never actually taken a journalism class. But after coming to WA, I had that opportunity. Finally I was in a class where I was asked to step up and ask questions that I wanted answers to.

The one thing I will say about academics here at WA is that where there are low expectations, there are low results. In my classes where I felt that the teacher was surprised when students had completed homework assignments, I didn’t feel ashamed of not doing my homework. That is the one difference coming from a private school; all of the students here clearly have the ability, the teachers just need to raise the bar.

Coming from a private school with a total of less than 400 students, I guess I was bound to be surprised by the division amongst students at WA. At a small private school, it’s very difficult to form exclusive “cliques” because your clique would have to be about the size of your grade, but here those groups are apparent. And even more surprisingly, there isn’t much obvious animosity between groups. At least from what I could tell. The people I became friends with did not hang out with each other, yet there wasn’t the “middle school feeling” of “we can’t be friends if you’re friends with her.”

Overall, for the one year that I was at Westford Academy, the one person who impacted me the most was my guidance counselor, Mrs. McLaughlin. I remember asking her, in our first meeting, how many students she had because there was no way that a guidance counselor who had roughly 70 students would measure up to my previous guidance counselor who only had about 20. I was shocked at how she seemed interested and involved in my life at WA. I expected someone who gave the bare minimum to her students, but once again, I was proven wrong.

Thanks, WA for showing me that a book really can never be judged by its cover.