Waking up on the first day of junior year, you’re nervous and also excited. Walking off of the bus not knowing what to expect for the next 180 days. Finally moving on from sophomore year, making your way into school, you can’t help but wonder if all of the stories you’ve heard about junior year are actually true. Replaying the words, “Junior year is the hardest year of your high school career,” over and over.
The first few weeks feel normal. You reconnect with friends, learn your class schedule, and settle into new routines. At first, junior year doesn’t seem much different from sophomore year. Then things start to change. Teachers begin assigning harder work, classes move faster, and the workload starts to build. Suddenly, you’re spending more time studying and less time putting things off until the last minute.
By October and November, conversations about college become more common throughout the school. Guidance counselors encourage juniors to begin exploring future plans, while SAT preparation starts to take on a larger role in students’ lives. Even if graduation still feels far away, you start to realize that life after high school is closer than it seems.
As the holiday season approaches, the pressure continues to grow. Assignments pile up, tests become more difficult, and students start preparing for midterms.
January arrives faster than expected. What seemed far away on the first day of school is suddenly right in front of you. Having to spend countless hours reviewing notes, preparing for midterm exams. Walking into each testing room feels intimidating. By the end of the week, there is a sense of accomplishment.
After midterms, there’s a brief moment to relax. The second semester begins, and for a few weeks, it feels like the hardest part is over. Then SAT season arrives. Having to once again spend hours preparing and taking practice tests. Anxiously walking into school on SAT day. Sitting down at a desk for hours with just a computer, a pencil, and a paper, wondering when it will be over. Feeling so rewarded once it is done and realizing that you are done with state testing.
After the weeks of feeling overwhelmed by schoolwork, Prom season approaches. The first year being able to attend Prom without needing an invite. The excitement of picking out outfits and planning where to take pictures. Having a night to spend with your best friends before the year gets more stressful.
As spring continues, junior year begins to feel different. Starting to research colleges, visiting campuses, and thinking seriously about what comes next.
By May and June, everyone is counting down the days until summer. The realization sets in that there is just one more event before summer begins. Final Exams. Motivation begins to disappear. Having to push through one last round of studying, projects, and assessments. Finals week approaches, feeling every emotion at once. Feeling excited for summer, feeling nervous for exams, and feeling scared for the future. Taking the exams knowing that by the end of them, it will be the start of summer. Feeling the biggest feeling of relief walking out of your last exam.
Before you know it, you’re stepping off the bus on the last day of school wondering where those 180 days went.
