Since graduating from middle school, this year’s new 9th-grade class is adapting to(适应) the challenges of high school, a difficult process for many students. Some of the challenges the students must get used to are the increasing difficulty of schoolwork the amount of homework, and many other things.

“It’s a bit harder than middle school, but we have already expected that,” David Palacios, 9th-grade student, said.

Adaptation is also influenced by stories the freshmen hear before entering. These stories create a negative idea of high school, as they are usually bad stories about classes, teachers, or other topics.

“Stories I’ve heard of high school are exaggerated (夸张的),” Palacios said.

The school is fighting against student fear by providing information about high school, even before they enter. This year, the 9th-grade class entered school on August 8, one day earlier than other high school students. This was done to help the freshmen relieve(减轻) stress.

“In general, they adapt well, because since middle school they have been given some information on what high school is,” Ana Isabel Garcia, high school advisor, said.

The changes faced in 9th grade are more challenging than those found in middle school. However, after experiencing the first two months of 9th grade, many 9th graders agree that 9th grade is not as hard as they thought it would be.

High school is harder than other grades as it’s the final step students take before they enter the real world. Students must see the important role high school plays as it teaches them many skills that will help them improve their future.

As today’s high schoolers are facing too much homework, sports teams and clubs and high-rising college costs, many people are rethinking the idea of high schoolers working. Are there still benefits of having a job in high school? The answer is yes.

When I was 14 years old, my mother suggested that I get a job in order to pay for college. Unhappy with my sporadic (零星的) babysitting work, I told my mother that, no matter what job I got, I’d never be able to cover college costs on a high school worker’s pay.

My mother smiled and told me that there were plenty of other reasons why I should get a job apart from just the paycheck (工资支票). So I found myself finally accepting a job as a swim instructor and lifeguard at my town’s public pool. I ended up working part-time at the pool through all four years of high school.

Not everything about the job was marvelous. Actually, there were times I hated jumping in the pool on cold mornings and lecturing kids on their bad manners, but, like my mother said, I got many other benefits from the job besides the paycheck.

At my job, I made lots of new friends, more than I had made in high school. I also learnt lots of skills including CPR (心肺复苏法) training. I was also able to use my work experience to stand out from other job applicants in college and get a paid research job as a freshman in college.

For many high school students, there are many benefits of having a job. Not only will high school jobs give you a way to make some money, meet new people, and develop some skills, you can also use your teenage jobs to get yourself a better job in college.

The hike to the lost Incan city of Choquequirao is one of the most difficult in Peru. From the town of Cachora, Choquequirao is 161km west of Cusco. It’s an 18km walk to Capuliyoc Mountain, then down to Playa Rosalina where tourists camp for the night. Waking early, tourists then have to cross the Apurímac River and walk uphill to camp close to the ruins. The next morning, it’s another 2km walk up to the ruins, 3,100m above sea level. To get back? Well, it’s the same way you come.

“I’ve had people in their 60s and 70s do it,” said Juan Barrios, a guide from the Adventure Life company. “But some people come out thinking that because it’s only 28km from the destination, they can do it in a day. They are totally wrong! Six or seven days for the hike is best.” It makes sense then, that Choquequirao draws only about 30 people a day during the high season (June through August). Compare that to the 2, 500 people who arrive each day at the famous Incan city of Machu Picchu. But for those who make the journey, the rewards are great: beautiful mountain views at every turn, and the chance to explore the wonderful ruins nearly alone.

Believed to be created around the same time as Machu Picchu, in 1445, Choquequirao is actually larger than better-known Machu Picchu. But very little has been written about Peru’s other lost city and researchers are still unearthing new parts of the ruins, leaving life on the mountain relatively untouched.

Choquequirao is beautiful now because of its unique scenery and civilization. Even though the lost city was discovered by Spanish explorer Juan Arias Díaz in 1710, the ruins still make you feel as though you’re the first to find them. The question is what if more tourists flood in (大量涌入) in the future.

Tom Brady, a Californian, was an excellent quarterback (四分卫) at Junipero Serra High School. But when he arrived at the University of Michigan and joined a National Football League (NFL), he was not allowed to play as a starter (首发队员). However, he kept improving his skills and preparing each week as if he were the starter.

In 2001, his second season, he only got in on the act because the starter was injured. Fans didn’t expect much of him. But Tom led his team New England Patriots to a victory in his first start, then they won four of five, and then finished the year with six victories. Each week he seemed to get a little better, and people began to recognize him as a dark horse. He was no longer a nobody.

Today, Brady is considered perhaps the greatest quarterback ever. He’d become a superstar. Yet he had never lost that fire, that drive, and that sense that the world didn’t believe in him. At 37, he said that he would play until fifty if his body allowed him to do so. And he even told his teammates that he wanted to play forever if possible.

His teammates had dreamed of being him. Hogan was thirteen in February of 2002 when Brady and New England Patriots beat St. Louis Rams. Lengel was eleven at the time, watching with his grandfather in Kentucky. Mitchell was ten in Florida. These teammates were Tom’s big fans who had viewed from TV how he did the impossible since their childhood. “He gave us the encouragement,” Hogan said.

He kept telling his teammates to keep going when the game wasn’t over. He isn’t the biggest, the fastest, and the strongest football player in the world, but he may be the most strong-minded.