A pair of wings spread out in front of a black background, the feathers made up of college flags each representing an opportunity for students to climb higher in both education and life. These wings can be found in the Freshmen Center, a place students can go for college and career support.

At the beginning of this school year, the counseling department redesigned the career center, a building students might have walked past without even noticing, but now everyone, especially freshmen, have a reason to walk in. 

This new building is the Freshmen Center, a place for helping freshmen make the transition from eighth grade into high school. Other than freshmen, all students are welcomed for college questions they might have.

Assisting in this transition are two counselors with a lot of experience: Heather Peterson and Angelica Segura.

Peterson is the more experienced out of the duo. She has spent 23 years working with students at K-8 schools such as Hoover, Cleveland, and PYA elementary schools. Peterson made her debut at Stagg in 2023, but this also isn’t her first time with high school students, as she spent two years with high school students in Missouri. 

“Our mission is to get them[her students] on track right away,” Peterson said. To get help from the center, you only need to enter through the Registration building and hang a left. Students can schedule an appointment or walk-in when they need advice on a social or emotional problem.

Working with her is Segura, who has been a counselor for eight years. Segura also has experience counseling eighth graders as she spent two and a half years at Busch and Madison Elementary, before arriving in Stagg in 2018. When talking about what her mission is at Stagg, she said that she wanted to be ”Make sure we deal with the social and emotional pieces as well because we see a lot of out students need the emotional support.”

The reason for the Freshmen Center even existing is due to the observed struggle that incoming freshmen face. This is observed by both Peterson and Segura, and is accompanied by the main concern, which was the amount of anxiety reported. 

Both counselors said they have experienced a large influx of freshmen who have been unable to control their anxiety which has hindered their school productivity. This makes an already stressful time even more difficult for these freshmen which creates as Peterson claims, “An endless loop of stress and anxiety.”

While she and Segura are battling the influx, they must also take on the new attitude that freshmen have taken on. “One of the thought processes students come [into freshman year] with is freshmen year doesn’t matter, when in reality it does,” said Segura. 

Segura said that when this mindset takes hold, it’s hard to get rid of. “It’s hard to break habits that have been embedded into these kiddo’s head, since they’ve always been pushed to the next grade regardless if they actually passed the grade.” 

The center is planned to provide a haven for freshmen where they can receive not only counseling but also explore college and career opportunities, as well as support groups for various communities, such as troubled young men and young women support groups. 

Both groups are aimed to support and boost motivation for its members. “The freshman center will really target those kids who need that [emotional and social] help by giving them some extra support in whatever area they need it,” said Peterson.

The counselors remark their biggest worry about the center is how new this program is. There is no bar set, so the counselors are not sure what they are supposed to do. They are going off of intuition and their expertise. 

Peterson and Segura worry upperclassmen will feel they won’t be allowed to be in the center, but they want everybody to feel welcome. Peterson remains optimistic, saying ¨Right now this is all baby steps, but it’s progress nonetheless.¨