Day of firsts: Start of busy year underway for high school student

FISHERSVILLE - Even for an accomplished student like senior Wil Hall of Wilson Memorial High School and the Central Shenandoah Valley Regional Governor’s School, the first day of school is rough.
“My junior year of Governor’s School was overwhelming,’’ said Hall, as he studied a schedule of three Governor’s School and three Wilson classes on the first day of school Tuesday. “A lot of juniors get stressed out. But it’s all confidence.”
  If anything, Hall, 17, has added to his previous responsibilities.
He spent a month over the summer scrubbing bathrooms and cleaning at a youth camp in New York state for the Christian organization Young Life.
Hall plays in an off-campus soccer program and is a member of the Wilson Memorial varsity boys basketball team and president of the Wilson SCA this year.
The latter duty means Hall will spend the next several weeks planning Wilson’s October homecoming celebration while also working on other projects.
With several hours of homework each night, Hall also wants to be ready to vote in the presidential election. His 18th birthday falls on election day and he plans to vote.
“I will watch the debates. I want to follow closely and pick the best candidate,’’ he said.
But for now, Hall has to wade through a group of course syllabuses for calculus, astrophysics, geospatial information systems and advanced placement English.
He was assigned to read two short stories for English class Tuesday night, and anticipates heavy doses of homework for that class as well as the calculus and geospatial information systems classes.
All three classes offer college credit.
“I can stay up as late as 1 a.m.,” said Hall, who said that happens only during basketball season after lengthy practices.
On Tuesday, Hall said he found few surprises except for perhaps the astrophysics class, where the workload appears substantial.
The class will explore everything from star formation and evolution to the solar system and the formation and the evolution of the Milky Way.
Astrophysics instructor Jason Buczyna told students Tuesday he also hopes to coordinate with the University of Virginia “on an observatory lab.”
For Hall, the difference between the relatively small enrollment of the Governor’s School and navigating the jammed hallways and full classrooms of Wilson is significant.
But he enjoys both. He said the Governor’s School and its instructors offer a college-like environment, but added, “I love Wilson, I love the environment.”
And while Hall said his most passionate love is music, he also enjoys subjects like science “because you have to think outside the box.”
As his final year of high school unfolds, Hall said the time has raced by.
“It has gone so fast and it’s over before you know it,’’ he said.
Next year, Hall plans to enroll at James Madison University, where he expects to have several credits to his name.