Being the only junior in my fourth block gym class, well, sucks.

It's not that I have no one to talk to because I have made many friends this semester. It's that as a junior who only has one year of school left, I get no respect from my freshman classmates. They even have a problem with me -- and sometimes cuss at me -- when I count repetitions out loud like I'm supposed to.

We all know the high school golden rule: Respect your upperclassmen when you are a freshman. Last year, as my sophomore year went on, I could feel that the underclassmen respected us as their upperclassmen. This year, though, the freshmen will cuss at us and have no respect for their "elders."

Maybe it's the forth block, end of the day attitude that is irking me. Or is it that the younger generation is just ruder?

Junior Kaylee Witt, co-captain of Poca's color guard, had a lot of experience dealing with a younger generation this year as she tried to keep control of the squad. After her time dealing with whining girls and never-ending mood swings, she was able to give some insight on how the younger generation is changing.

When asked how she felt about being around freshmen, Witt said, "It just depends on who the person is. One person is mature enough to be around; the other [may be] more worried about who can chuck fried potatoes across the commons farther.

"They just don't understand the fact that we are upperclassmen wanting respect. It'll click soon enough, I hope."

With the thought of flying fried potatoes on her mind, Witt described some of the problems she's had with the freshmen this year.

"Well, besides attitude problems from some of the girls I've dealt with over the summer, there haven't been any bad things happen. You simply just ignore the fact they think they are cooler than you even though everyone else is most likely laughing [at them] on the inside."

Witt reflected on how her freshmen year was different than what she's experienced with these freshmen.

"My freshmen year obviously had some drama," she said. "People changed, got mature. Some got hooked on drugs, and this and that. I couldn't change it, so I let it be.

"Surprisingly, I've seen that this year's freshmen actually click together very well [as a whole]. You don't see too many cliques. This may be why they think they are better than the upperclassmen since they are all friends."

Finally, Witt discussed how she'd want to change upcoming freshmen to keep them from having the air-headed, immature attitudes she dealt with in some of her squad members this year.

"I don't think we can change the future generations. Things in peoples' lives impact how they behave, and they aren't going to change just because everyone else wants them to.

"There isn't any fairness in it. Everyone is different."