An event for incoming freshmen known as Running with the Bulls (RWTB) takes place at Emerson a few days before school starts each year. The goal of this event is to introduce freshmen students to their new school and ensure that they feel comfortable on their first day. Pulling off such a large event, however, takes a lot of planning and preparation that is undertaken by a volunteer group of students each year.

In the spring a committee of students began meeting weekly to plan orientation for this year. They were tasked with deciding each of the rotations the freshmen would go through, what information they would receive and settling all the tiny details all before the big day on Aug. 11.

“There were quite a few changes this year,” Neha Bhalla, 12, said. “We added back the Upperclassmen Panel because we felt that getting to hear from people involved in various things across the school would help freshmen get advice that was directly relevant to them and help them have some familiar upperclassmen faces once the school year started.”

Though it may sound simple, the committee organizing the panel faced multiple challenges throughout their planning process.

“[One of our struggles was] trying to find a diverse group of individuals to lead panels,” Addisyn Wimberly, 12, said. “I wanted people of different genders, races, involvement, grades, etc., so that was the most difficult part.”

After weeks of discussions, the panel members were decided. Their work, however, did not stop there. To ensure that the freshmen would enter their year feeling as prepared as possible, the panel committee compiled a list of base questions to answer and also created a form that allowed freshmen to send in their questions without having to speak in front of the entire group if they did not want to.

“I made sure that the other panel members and I focused on honesty and vulnerability so that the freshmen would know we are real, and as much as high school is hard, it is also absolutely amazing,” Wimberly said.

In addition to the panel, tours were also added to Running with the Bulls this year in order to introduce the freshmen to their new school and make it easier for them to find their way around on the first day. The student volunteers made these decisions for the big day with their own experience years ago as a freshman in mind.

“I’ve helped out with the orientation for three years now, once as a leader and twice as a Captain,” Bhalla said. “I think I wanted to do it because in my freshman year, I didn’t know anyone and I had just moved to the country so I had a difficult time adjusting.”

Both the group of students that volunteered to plan out the orientation and those who helped out the day of took time out of their summer to make this a possibility.

“I love being part of making the freshmen feel welcome, seen and excited when coming to Emerson,” Wimberly said. “This is my second year as a captain and third year running RWTB, and it has been a blessing to be part of such a fun tradition.”

Thanks to lots of hard work, freshmen orientation ran smoothly even with a high turnout, and the attendees were presented lots of necessary information to make their high school experience as fun as possible

“I liked being able to see my teachers so that I would know where my classes were by the time school started,” Jay McGuire, 9, said. “I’m glad I went.”