Junior Year Reflection

Around this time last year, I was a sophomore stressing about junior year. That anxiety continued through the summer in the back of my mind and into the beginning of school. To relieve some of that stress, I wrote an opinion piece on my anxieties for junior year. Now that the school year is coming to an end and this is the last issue, I have decided to write a reflection, in hopes that it’s helpful to anyone that is stressed like I was.

My main concern was how I was going to manage taking three AP classes while doing football, basketball, and competition cheer. Well, I did it, and although it was stressful and hard at times, it was definitely doable. To be honest, cheer was helpful in taking my mind off school and relaxing for a bit. It taught me to balance school and sports, forcing me to manage my time. So contrary to what I thought at the beginning of the year; I was able to balance cheer and school.

I also thought that the jump from taking one AP class sophomore year to three junior year was going to be too much. But honestly, it was fine; my AP classes felt like my regular classes, just with more depth and a little bit more work. I started to feel the stress of my AP classes two weeks before the exams. However, I don’t regret taking any of them. The exams were hard and painful, but it was only 3-4 hours of the whole year. It’s been a lot of work, but that is expected.

One thing that has not changed from the beginning of the year is how stressed I am about college. I still don’t feel fully prepared, or that I have done enough to get into the schools I want.

But besides all this, I can confidently say that I made it through junior year, and to all incoming juniors: You will make it through junior year too, and it’s not that bad at all.