Navigating Through Junior Year
The majority of people dread going into their junior year of high school, but is it as difficult as people presume? At school, I am a three-season varsity athlete. I am on the Blake Girls Varsity Lacrosse team and Blake Poms team. I have been a part of Blakeβs Dance program since freshman year, I am in the Senior Dance Company, Vice President of Leo Club, and a writer for the Blake Beat Newspaper. Being halfway through my junior year, I understand why people say itβs the hardest. Thereβs immense pressure put on us to study for the SATs or ACT, have perfect grades, and take challenging courses to prepare us for college applications. However, my sophomore year was more difficult than my junior year. I took AP Psychology and AP Government which were very memorization-heavy classes, required lots of notes, and had plenty of homework, along with Honors Precalculus. Going into junior year, the classes didnβt get easier, but challenging yourself with higher-level classes will prepare you for college, life, and learning skills in general. I think the skills I learned from those advanced classes last year certainly benefited me with note-taking, retaining information from lectures, and time management.
Although I have found my ways of navigating this school year, other students like Darius Sudjendro, Shailee Goren, Chinedu Obkiwelu, Sage Segarra Garay, and Gabriela Do Carmo have their methods of success.
Junior, Darius Sudjendro is involved with the Blake baseball and wrestling teams. He says, βjunior yearβ is the most challenging year βbecause itβs the first time I am taking three APs at the same time, and doing two sports back to back.β The best way for younger students to be more successful is to, βlearn time management skills quickly.β The faster you can master time management, the sooner school work becomes easier.
What about another school nearby? Sherwood High School junior, Shailee Goren, is a third-year veteran on Poms. She is a choreographer for the school’s annual Rock and Roll Revival, a member of the Jewish student club, National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, National Social Studies Honor Society, National Math Honor Society, and the social media manager for the girls athletics page. She said, βJunior year has been the most challenging school year because I am taking challenging classes with heavy coursework and also have to deal with extracurricular activities. The stress of thinking about preparing for college applications has also made the year more difficult.β
Blake senior, Chinedu Obkiwelu, has played with the Roaring Bengals Marching Band for four years, has been on the volleyball team all four years, is a three-year member of the chess club, a member of the fellowship of Christian athletes, and a member of the fishing club. Throughout his high school experience, he found that teachers βlove it when you come in, so regularly going to your teacher for helpβ and βdoing some part of homework during lunch sometimes can really help you stay on top of your heavy workload.β It is important to create strong bonds with teachers and your peers because βby making friends in your classes, you can ask them for help at any time and even study together.β Study groups are extremely useful, especially when it comes to AP exam season.
Senior Sage Segarra Garay, Color Guard captain, has performed with the Roaring Bengals Marching Band for three years and has been a part of Blakeβs Stage Companyβs cosmetology department. She found that the best way to manage a heavy workload is to take breaks. She said she βwould make [herself] work for hours on end without breaks, leading to severe burnout and mental exhaustion.β To prevent burnout, she βmake[s] sure to give [herself] a break, most typically turning to a creative outlet so that [her] mind is still active and working but is not being overwhelmed.β Some advice she has for younger students is to βtake the classes that spark your interest even just a little bit. The last thing you want to do is regret not taking a course that you maybe could’ve enjoyed. You might find yourself thinking back on that course as being one of your favorites. The worst that can happen is you gain knowledge in a class you didn’t particularly enjoy.β Signing up for classes you have even the slightest interest in will make your school day more enjoyable and will help with burnout.
Lastly, sophomore Gabriela Do Carmo is a student-athlete here at Blake who has been taking challenging courses and playing Varsity Field Hockey. This year she is taking a double period of AP Chemistry and AP Government. Gabriela said, βI have spent a ton of hours studying both, mostly reading a textbook for Government and grasping chemistry terms since it is very fast-paced. Although it is an infamous AP, AP Chemistry is a very enjoyable subject, and while being a pretty tough course, has made me grow as an academic scholar!β During field hockey season, she found her evenings being βget home, shower, eat dinner while on my phone, study/do homework for 2 hours, and then go to bed.β Although it is important to take challenging courses, you do need to make sure to set aside time for yourself.