As a brand new student walking into her first-period AP English Language class on the first day of school, facing a classroom full of students she’d never met before, and feeling a heightened sense of anxiety, Gabi Lanhaus (11) felt like everyone was staring at her. For the other students, it was just another first day of school, but for Lanhaus, it was the start of a completely new chapter in her life.

Lanhaus had only recently moved to San Diego from Bellevue, Washington. It was difficult for her to say goodbye to the house she’d been living in almost her whole life and leave all her friends, not knowing when she’d be able to see them again. 

“I was sad to leave my hometown, but I’m excited for my new opportunity here in San Diego,” Lanhaus said. “I felt like my life there in Bellevue had become a bit stagnant. I wasn’t too happy in my previous school, even though I was doing well academically, and was planning to transfer anyway. I have a lot of friends back home, but not many in my previous school-it was pretty unwelcoming. That’s why I was excited to come to a new school with a lot of people, because it gives me many more chances to make new friends.”

Lanhous’ parents were inspired to move to San Diego by some good family friends, who had moved there a few years earlier. Originally, Lanhaus was set to be enrolled in Scripps Ranch High School. However, Lanhaus took the initiative to look into schools in the area on her own and decided to enroll at Westview instead, due to its academic similarity to her previous school in Washington.

Previously, Lanhaus had attended an international school in Bellevue, which used a block schedule. This made her conveniently familiar with the four-period schedule. Additionally, her previous school had been academically rigorous, which made Westview a perfect transition.

“The teachers were excellent and APs are required courses there,” Lanhaus said. “I didn’t really enjoy the school, but it’s within the top 60 [high schools] in the nation, so I was hesitant about leaving. That’s why I picked Westview, because it was the best option academically in San Diego.”

On Aug. 14, she attended a transfer student orientation organized by ASB and Peer Counseling, where she toured the campus and had her questions about Westview answered. 

“The people here are a lot more open and friendly,” Lanhaus said. “It’s definitely different because I went to a really small school where everyone knows each other and keeps to themselves, so seeing the sea of people out there, [it’s like] you’re never going to know everybody here.” 

At orientation, Lanhaus got the chance to meet other transfer students, such as Isild David (11).

David moved from Toulon, France with her family and is also new to Westview. When researching for schools in the area, David and her parents chose Westview.

“[My parents and I did] a lot of research [on schools],” David said. “Westview was a very good school, so we decided to move close to the school.”

At the transfer-student orientation, David introduced herself to the transfer student group, saying that she was French. This facilitated the connection with Lanhaus.

“I said I was French,” David said. “[Lanhaus] takes French classes so she came up to me and was like, ‘Hey, I speak French too!’” 

That first conversation was the start of their blooming friendship.

Despite the warm welcome at school, Lanhaus herself was initially nervous about meeting new people.

“The challenge was starting a conversation with new people, but the people here are so nice that you can keep it going,” Lanhaus said. 

For David, it was the language barrier that posed the biggest obstacle.

“I was nervous since, [while] I can speak English, there’s a lot of things I don’t understand,” David said. “Especially when I’m in math or biology, there are specific terms I don’t understand.” 

Adjusting to a different language still causes David some trouble, but her most useful tool in overcoming the barrier has been her classmates and peers. 

“Once in math, I had to ask the people with me 20 times what something meant because I just didn’t understand it, so they helped me,” David said. 

Compared to her old school in France, David said that events here at Westview are completely different than what she’s used to.

“I’ve never been to a pep rally or a game before, so I didn’t know what was going to happen,” David said. “[The pep rally] was really fun and it’s nice to have a lot of clubs and other events where you can just find your people.” 

David said that experiencing school in Westview so far has been like living that stereotypical American high school experience through the pep rally and football games. 

“It was really fun getting that ‘high school experience’,” David said. “It was really fun, and I was more surprised and just observing because I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

The main thing that David and Lanhaus agree on is that the key to meeting new people as a new student is staying optimistic and making themselves at home in San Diego and at Westview.