For years, the freshmen journey has begun the same way. A grade full of nervous, bright-eyed students paraded into the gym through a tunnel of upperclassmen to a chorus of cheers. I remember my first assembly. The gym was still under construction so we walked to the bleachers on the field, but the effect was still the same.

Admittedly, the chorus of cheers may have been drowned out by booing, but, to be honest, I didn’t mind. It was a little intimidating, but every time I mentioned the booing to an upperclassman, they just laughed and told me that they remembered the same experience from their freshmen year.

It may not have been the most positive tradition, but it was a rite of passage.

The next year, administration said they would be reprimanding any student who was booing, and I couldn’t be happier. Now the freshmen would get the same rite of passage, but in a much more positive way. This seemed like a perfect solution: preserve the tradition, but in a more inclusive and welcoming way.

This year, however, when Liberty’s returning students walked into the welcome assembly at the beginning of the school year, the freshmen were already seated in their place. There was no tunnel to welcome them.

While I’m glad that freshmen won’t be booed anymore when they walk into the assembly, I feel like a part of the Liberty experience is missing for students who never got welcomed to high school by parading nervously through a crowd of upperclassmen faces.

This new system diminishes the significance of entering Liberty High School. Students will no long start and end their journey at Liberty by walking through a tunnel.

The current freshmen will never understand the true loss of this tradition, but I will always feel there was something missing about the start of this school year.