Leaving the suburbs of Washington D.C. in early August, Senior Mikaela Lyons moved to the west coast for her dad’s job. “The move was sort of abrupt, and happened over the course of the summer,” senior Lyons said.  

      Senior Mikaela Lyons expressed that her first day of a new school was quite different. Lyons comes from a private school in Washington D.C., where the student body count is around 700 students, as opposed to Poway’s 2,000+ student body count.

     In private school, she had a lot of classes and the workload was often, if not always heavy, with long days. Now, she can get home early and work on homework and any other exrtacirriculars.

     “Being a new senior definitely scared me… overall, I really liked my teachers and talked to some nice people, “ she explained.

    One of Lyons’ teachers, Arno Chrispeels, who teaches Biology and AP Biology, had a similar experience with Lyons. “When I was in fifth grade, my family moved to Australia. Totally new school. I knew absolutely no one,” Chrispeels said.

   Lyons said that she misses her friends. She has known some of them since elementary school and being far away from them has been a challenge.

    “I definitely miss being able to just go over to my best friend’s house and just spending time with her in person,” Lyons said. 

   Fortunately, social media has allowed them to keep communicating. She has been planning trips back to her hometown, giving her something to look forward to. 

   She has met new people, but has not had the chance to get to know them. “I feel like as a senior, everyone has known each other for a while and friend groups have been established, so it’s hard being new,” Lyons said.

   Chrispeels had some advice for Lyons on making new friends too. “Get involved with school. Get involved with activities. Get involved, don’t be shy, like just jump in and just do stuff,” Chrispeels said. 

    Lyons plans on applying to UC schools, specifically UCLA to major in neuroscience. “I’ve always enjoyed my science classes, and working in the medical field is a huge interest of mine,” Lyons said. 

    “I’ve always wanted to go to school in California, even when I was in Maryland,” Lyons expresses.  Lyons also hopes to run the 400 meter hurdle for the Bruins and improve under an excellent coaching staff.