On his first day of high school, Jared Dzakovic stepped out of
his mother’s car. Alone, he walked up the old concrete stairs that
lay under the rusty metal awning, his head spinning with emotions.

He’d been in a trance since he left the security of his house, he was
vulnerable here. It was all a blur. Alone.

It couldn’t be that hard, high school. He had already been at
Rider due to band camp for the majority of August, but something
about today made being a high schooler more definite. He
was no longer a middle school student.

He had chosen to wear a cream Ralph Lauren t-shirt, navy blue
cargo shorts and Sperries that morning; an outfit certain to gain
the approval of his new peers. But the cherry on top was his cologne,
a handsome scent by Ralph Lauren. He looked good and
smelled good, a combination necessary to establish his identity,
one he would carry for the next four years.

The gravity of his impression weighed heavy on his shoulders.
He finally reached the cold, metal and glass doors.
The doors were like those he had at his middle school, but
these ones held a deeper sentiment.

With a determined breath, Jared opened the doors to a new
chapter of his life.
High school is a foreign utopia of opportunities
that can unlock doors to a promising future, leading
ultimately to self-discovery, but first you have to survive
freshman year.

Coach Dan Brown, a graduate of Claude High School
in 1982, said that freshmen at his 1A school had to fear
a tradition they called “Initiation.”

Coach Brown, however, said that he hadn’t participated
in the hazing his senior year; he actually had two
freshmen hide in his car so they wouldn’t have to go
through the arduous tasks the other upperclassmen
had prepared for Claude High’s “fresh meat.”
While nowadays freshmen don’t have to worry about
being “initiated,” that doesn’t mean their fears aren’t as
legitimate.

“I was nervous about what I was going
to wear,” Austin Lagunas said, “because
I wanted to make a good impression.”
Lagunas said he had spent over $100 the day before
school at Buckle “just to look nice.”

With apprehensions flooding through their heads,
the freshman class had to accomplish the first week of
high school while keeping their butterflies at bay.
Percussion Director Geoff Martin is a 2008 graduate
of Broken Arrow High School in Oklahoma. His 6A
school had three main buildings, divided between two
9th and 10th centers and a 11th and 12th building, with
about 2,000 pupils at each campus, so his first week
of school consisted of “not knowing where anything
[was].”

He said the week was nerve-wracking because he
“didn’t know many people.”

Even though Rider doesn’t have 6,000 students to
worry about, people are still bound to have a couple of
bumps in the road their first week.

Maria Varela, who was used to the smaller population
of Zundelowitz Middle School, not only had to conquer
the masses of new faces, but she had to acclimate herself
to the congestion and overcrowding that accompanies
being a Rider student.

“The big crowds” were her biggest
fear.

Volleyball athlete Lydia Harmon said that while she
did enjoy high school, she did not enjoy wearing her
“Little-Sister” volleyball shirt on the second day of
school. She was a little embarrassed because “people
thought [they] were actually being serious” about wearing
the frilly glitter-ladened attire.

Although life as a high school student isn’t all
peaches and cream, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t
benefits to being a Rider Raider.

Science teacher Brittney Bailey is a Raider alumni of
2002. During her freshman year Wichita Falls ISD first
introduced the Choice system, where middle schoolers
were allowed to choose where they went to high school
rather than going to wherever they were closest to. Because
of this, she said her favorite aspect of high school
was “getting to go to school with all [her] friends from
the other junior highs.”

Freshman Sierra Hodges said she was excited about
how new class courses were available to her now that
she was in high school.

“You get more class options,” she said, “and you can
do a lot more things after school.”

Kaleigh Gunkel said “getting to play soccer for [my]
school,” was her favorite thing about high school so far.
Not only is she thrilled that she can finally represent
her school through her athletic aptitudes, but she also
said she enjoys being able to cheer for Rider football
immersed in the “energy” from the student section.

“Football’s my favorite sport by far,”
Kaleigh said. “It’s better than being in
junior high and going to the games
because getting to sit in the student
section is fun.”

The Pride of the Raiders marching band director Loy
Studer is a Rider alum of 1993. He performed with the
Rider marching band while he was in high school. Studer
said his fondest memories involved friends he had
made within his extracurricular activities. He remembers
how his sousaphone (marching tuba) section used
to meet at Memorial Stadium before home games and
bond.

“We’d grab a pizza and polish our tubas together,”
Studer said.

Teenagers were just as rambunctious back then as
they are today, and Mr. Studer was no exception. Studer
said one time when the tuba players were gathered together
before a home game, the band president at the
time had come early and left her “small red hatchback”
car unattended. His section decided to pick up her car
and carry it to a nearby median.

“I’m surprised it wasn’t towed during
the game,” Studer said.

Easton Johnson is a Pride of the Raiders marching
band saxophone player and an active member of
the chess club, led by Mr. Norton.

“Band is a really good elective. I get to practice my
music and I get to learn how to march like everyone I’ve
seen. It gets annoying at points, but it all just turns out
at the end,” he said.

Regarding chess club, Easton said, “Chess is a fun
opportunity and it’s really challenging, and I get to see
how people can outsmart me and see just what their
level of thinking is over mine.”

Mr. Tempelmeyer, a alumni of ‘74, was a Rider Raider
when Rider won the very first Rider/Old High game,
which resulted in a tough score of 18 to 6.

One of his memories is “The advent of ROHO, that
came up while I was in high school.” Tempelmeyer said
the term originated with Coach Mercer’s dad. Back
then the term “right on” was a popular phrase to say
ROHO originally meant “Right On, Honored Ones” but
morphed into “Ride On, Honorable Ones” sometime
throughout the years.

Mrs. Bailey was in school the first year the boys soccer
team won state, 2000. They received one of the stone
Texas monuments out in front of the fieldhouse.

“The night of Rider/Old High there’s always vandalism
and things going on, so to make sure no one touched it,
everyone camped outside [the fieldhouse].”

They called this loyal display of school pride “Camp
ROHO”.

Those who’ve been through it say high school can
be either a period of monotonous preparation that
students never get back or it can be an antique treasure
chest filled to the brim with cherishable memories,
but the responsibility of deciding how a student’s high
school career plays out rests squarely on their own
shoulders.

As theater director Mr. J says, “It’s
what you put into it.”