With just a few months of the 2024-2025 school year left, sophomores are starting to feel a mix of anxiety and excitement as they prepare to become juniors this next school year.
As far as stigmas go, junior year is widely considered the most stressful and difficult year of high school. This stems from the fact that most additional education facilities, such as colleges and universities, look at students’ grades from their junior year the most. Ultimately, this often results in students taking very difficult classes during their junior year to display both their hard work and abilities.
With all this said, a few current sophomore students were asked about their concerns, goals, schedule, and preparation for their upcoming junior year.
When asked about balancing between both work and play, Audrey Wagner feels that she has what it takes to figure it out when the time comes. She spoke out about taking some difficult classes next year, such as AP Lang and AP Gov, so her concerns about finding a good balance has definitely crossed her mind a few times. Wagner also plays lacrosse, which takes up a lot of her time. Although this may seem like a tricky situation Wagner finds herself in, she also understands the importance of responsibility; a key value that will definitely play in Wagner’s favor for the long run.
However, even if many are feeling concerned about balancing their school and social life during their junior year, some students have realized that next school year is an opportunity to achieve many goals. Jonathan Waas is no exception. Waas states, “With the deadline of graduating coming closer, in my junior year I want to explore and find where I might want to be heading in my future. I want to talk to professionals, visit colleges, talk to my friends, and learn more about myself and my options. I always hear that junior year is the hardest and most important year of school, so I want next year to make a mark on my future. Between harder classes and extracurriculars, I’ll be having more trouble staying afloat, so I hope to tread the water and explore what more there is beyond our 4 years.”
To add on, the classes students take next year are essential to their future success as both a student and young adult. Braydon Buczak understands this fully and has taken all of the necessary measures to ensure that he gets everything out of his schedule next year. Despite the daunting task, Buczak has decided to take five AP classes next year, including: AP Lang, AP U.S. History, AP Physics, AP Calculus, and AP Economics. Where most of his peers view this as unconventional and unnecessary, Buczak is very confident that he could prove those who doubt him wrong by enjoying a very successful junior year. He also spoke about some of the extracurricular activities he was going to participate in. Buczak mentioned that he has a love and passion for music. This played a large part in him choosing to do both Concert and Marching Band next year. Although Buczak’s rigorous schedule anticipates quite the challenge next year, it’s students like him that have proven time and time again that being challenged and going above and beyond creates great opportunities.
Lastly, Gabriela Elias, like most of her peers, understands that it’ll take both physical and mental preparation to adapt and succeed in the rigor of junior year. Her thoughts are, “I think that just the fact that I went through this year and know what to expect already makes me feel a lot more prepared for next year. The difference from last year was I was less prepared for this year, and I didn’t know what I was walking into. I think having that experience will help me manage the workload better and stay on top of things. Physically, I’ll try to get more sleep. Mentally, I think it’s about staying organized, not letting stress pile up. I know junior year is supposed to be rigorous, but I think I’ll be able to adapt by learning from what worked (and didn’t work) this year.”
These testimonies give much insight into how the upcoming junior year is going to handle the challenges and stress to come, but it also attests to the potential successes and achievements that students are hoping to accomplish. It’s safe to say that this upcoming junior class is well on their way to create many great and enriching opportunities for themselves.