It’s no surprise that balancing school with life outside of school is a challenge. Ninth grader Susan Googe is trying to “set a good tone” for the rest of her upper school career, while juggling a rigorous course load and sports.
Even fitting in our interview was a tough thing to juggle. Between the busyness of the first Friday of the year and the excitement before the battle of Buckhead later that day, the lunch line overwhelmed us. We had to wait in the excruciating line. After finishing our lunch, we were barely able to squeeze in the interview.
Susan’s ambitions go back to her Lower School years (I should know. I’ve been friends with her since first grade.) She’s never been afraid to take risks and do her own thing. I remember she always was the first to raise her hand and the first to spark a conversation. Susan has never been a follower. From the beginning, she always paved her own path, a quality of hers that I admire.
Susan says she’s taking all honors classes. She is also taking two electives, Theatre Arts 1 and Honors Singers.
The electives aren’t a burden for her “because they are two things that I really enjoy doing. It’s also nice because it helps to balance academic classes and it helps me improve my skills within the school day.” She wanted to balance classes she was passionate about and classes that are more on the academic side.
Outside of the academic day, Susan is also a cheerleader and loves all things that involve performing. She says that one of her summer highlights was attending a week-long dance intensive and participating in many fun performances.
Susan is a pro at staying organized with sports, academics, and extracurriculars. Still, it can sometimes be unnerving. “A worry I have is doing well this year because I know it will determine my placement in classes for the future,” she says, “so I want to make sure I do really well.”
For now, Susan is just getting the lay of the land. Already, she loves the community. “I especially love going to football games and playing sports,” she says. “It’s way different than Middle school and I love being able to hang out with my friends.”
Another big change is having more freedom. She repeatedly mentioned the amount of freedom that high schoolers have in comparison to middle schoolers.
For many people, high school is a scary thing. It will determine your future, so there’s a lot of pressure to succeed. “I’m nervous about having a bigger academic load this year than I’ve had in the past, but I look forward to learning a lot this year.”
Susan says she’s “very excited to see what’s to come.” She hopes to improve her time management and do well in the future.
After we wrapped up our last question, Susan packed her things up and headed off to one of those tough classes she’s taking, Honors Biology. And I went with another friend of ours to math class.
