The troubling recession occurring in the world hit close to home as the new freshmen began in a different uniform than other St. Joe students. Due to a supply issue, a number of students could not receive their plaid skirts in time for the first few weeks of school, so the administration decided to postpone the required collared shirt and skirt for a short time. Instead, they all wore leggings with a St. Joe t-shirt as their temporary uniform. 

Freshman KK Dooley felt that the lack of uniform made them stand out even more in the hallways.

“I hated it. I felt it was super obvious who the freshmen were,” KK said.  

While some felt selfconscious looking different than everyone else, they enjoyed the many activities set-up to introduce them to the community. They had Freshman Day run by the upperclassmen with the theme of High School Musical where all of these girls had the opportunity to meet one another. The second week of school was Welcome Week which included many fun events for the freshmen to enjoy, one including the freshmen hats! The week concluded with St. Joe Day, which involved many different games and was a stress free, exciting time.

Regarding the delay of freshmen receiving their skirts, upperclassmen did everything they could to welcome them by showing lots of energy and kindness throughout these beginning weeks. However, during these weeks that focused on helping the freshmen, the newest members of the community longed for their own plaid skirts.

Freshman Emily Hoehn was one of them.

“I understand the reason we had to dress in these clothes, but I would constantly be hot while wearing leggings in the summer weather and just looked forward to finally wearing a skirt,” Emily said 

After the Labor Day weekend, the freshmen had received their backordered items and were happy to look like everyone else by donning their green and white plaid skirts.

“I love seeing all the skirts, freshmen!” Ms. Anna Hotop, director of campus Ministry, announced at Community Time the first week back.

Although this delay was unfortunate, it also united the freshmen together as a class and gave them a relatable experience to bond. They all immediately had a conversation starter which helped ease the awkwardness of meeting people for the first time. Now, this class has a memory to look back on throughout the next four years that they can laugh about.