Switching schools can be difficult for most people. You have to make new friends, adapt to a new building, and balance school work with hobbies. Since Liberty high school recently opened on Aug. 23, students and teachers have been moved from West to Liberty. Some like the change while others hate it.

Liberty High School has almost 1,000 new students enrolled this fall and like most students, Jason Donze ‘20 was upset to leave his friends behind to join a new school.

“I see some of [my friends] from time to time, but there’s a lot of people that I haven’t seen for a long time,” Donze said. “I try to talk with them and make plans, but our schedules usually conflict. So that’s usually why I don’t talk to some of my old friends.”

However, moving to Liberty has helped him make new friends and find new hobbies. It gave him the courage to join Intro to Theatre and become president of the Trading Card Game club.

“There’s a chance to meet new people, like everybody’s new. I joined theater, I’ve never done it at West. I’m bad at meeting people so it’s giving me a chance to meet people easily. Also, everyone has something in common because we all moved into a new school.”

Switching schools while participating in an extracurricular activity can get difficult to understand the flow of things. For Cole Hansen ‘20 playing in Liberty’s orchestra feels very different than playing in West’s orchestra.

“I feel the overall function of our orchestra is there and it’s working quite well. The only difference I notice is the amount of pure talent and skill in West’s orchestra. We have less people in the Liberty orchestra and our instruments are quite unbalanced. But I have hope that this will fix over time.”

Liberty is still working on becoming a complete school by building a football field and other areas for sports. The school might not be finished but according to Donze, Liberty’s library allows people to relax and it’s the best part of the new school so far.

“The library is freaking huge! There’s a lot of new books and they’re pretty recent. It’s also a nice place to hang out and meet with friends.”

Hansen has a different view on Liberty. He believes it’s too early for people to judge and compare Liberty to schools such as West. Over time, Liberty will be able to function efficiently.

“People have often described Liberty as a work in progress,” Hansen explained. “But people are forgetting that West high had an overwhelming sense of community that Liberty simply doesn’t have yet, and that’s deeply frustrating for me as a student. Liberty can definitely improve, but I’m worried about the timeline of such improvements happening. We haven’t quite settled into the groove of things.”