Lock up your worries

First day of school got you scared? Banish those jitters with a little advice from those in the know.

By ALINE MENDELSOHN

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 7, 2000

You sleep restlessly the night before, if at all.

All night long, you dream every possible disaster: You'll wander through the hallways like a nomad in search of homeroom. Your locker won't open and you'll be stuck with six textbooks strapped to your back all year. You'll slip on spilled chocolate milk in the cafeteria and land splayed on the floor as the entire school -- including your social studies teacher, the vice principal and a crowd of seniors -- roars with laughter.

If your nightmares aren't bad enough, consider these timeless legends passed along earnestly by generations of students to scare underclassmen:

The Flagpole -- Where they duct-tape screaming freshmen.

The Doomed Basement -- No one knows why it's doomed, but it just is. Stay away.

The Soup Made of Senior Spit -- Need we say more?

It's the first day of school. Welcome back.

Around the Tampa Bay area, students are just days away from returning to classrooms. (Check out the box of starting dates on this page to see who might have more vacation than you!) Some students are going to new schools, having just moved to the area or entering middle or high school for the first time. That newcomer status can magnify the regular first-day jitters tenfold.

To mark these last days of freedom, Xpress decided to take a lighthearted look at some myths and realities surrounding the first day of school. We talked to students and educators about the goofy stuff people say can happen, what really can happen, and how to avoid a nightmarish first day.

Tall tales?

Even though freshmen probably will always be nicknamed "freshmeat" or "freshfish" (and sophomores "squashmores"), nicknames pale in comparison to rumors of far worse fates on the first day of school.

Tall tales of seniors glueing lockers shut and juniors giving freshmen swirlies are just that, tall tales.

"Don't believe them," says Largo High School principal Barbara Thornton. "We take special care of our freshmen, and we make it clear that we don't tolerate that kind of behavior."

That said, we trolled Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg in search of stories about alleged first day antics. We found a couple of gems:

Fifteen-year-old Maria Godman of Seminole swears she witnessed an upperclassman shoving a freshman into a locker and slamming the door. Inside the locker, the freshman pounded frantically.

"Let me out!" she yelled, rattling off a string of profanities. The upperclassman put her ear to the locker. "What?" she said innocently. "I can't hear you."

Sixteen-year-old Jamie Dyer of Seminole claims he saw an unsuspecting freshman scurrying to his third-period class when, suddenly, a burly senior sadist plucked him from the ground, feet flailing in the air, and deposited him into the nearest trash receptacle.

Jamie and his friend, Brent Osborne, 15, of St. Petersburg, made it through their freshman year without landing in a trash can. Brent's tactic for avoiding the Dumpster: "You run."

Then he laughs. "Freshmen should relax," he says. "It's not that bad. I'm still living."

First-day jitters

So these are the rumors; there's still plenty to be nervous about if you are entering middle or high school.

Just ask Carolyn Sandlin-Sniffen, an eighth-grade English teacher at Seminole Middle School who has 22 years of experience. Each year she sees sixth-graders go through the same struggles: figuring out how to change classes, fumbling with locker combinations, finding new friends.

On the first day of school, Sandlin-Sniffen usually sees at least one parent videotaping his mortified 11-year-old's first day of middle school. She also sees rows of anxious students who just want to come out of their first day alive.

This was 13-year-old Beth Oquendo's objective on her first day at Bay Point Middle School in St. Petersburg two years ago. Everything was going flawlessly until she went to her fourth-period class -- during second period. She quietly slipped out of the room when she realized her mistake.

Fifteen-year-old Aimee Harling had a similar experience on her first day at Seminole High School: She got lost. After about 15 minutes of wandering around the hallways, she finally made it to her first-period graphics class, full of upperclassmen staring at her.

"I felt like such a freshman," Aimee says.

Words from the wiser

After three years of middle school, 14-year-olds Chennel Arundel, Lisa Ash and Kaeti Hagenbuch couldn't wait to get out.

Soon they will begin their freshman year at Osceola High School in Seminole.

"I'm so happy," Chennel says. "I can't wait to get to something new."

Adds Lisa: "I'm looking forward to the high school guys."

The Osceola girls do have some apprehensions about finding their way around school, but they know that thousands of students have been through high school before them. Those who have been there offer some advice:

Sandlin-Sniffen, who writes a column in the St. Petersburg Times about school issues, suggests that students find out where the bathrooms are ahead of time, visit the school before classes start, memorize their class schedule and write down all assignments in a planner.

Brad Martino, 15, St. Petersburg Catholic School: "Your freshman year you get sidetracked. Try not to have too much fun or your grades will go down. Like mine did."

Nicole Tancredi, 16, Seminole High School: "Know who you are and be proud of it."

Chennel, who is entering ninth grade, also shares this advice for incoming sixth-graders: "Don't be scared. Don't change for other people."

- Staff writer Chris Sherman contributed to this story.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.