By Emi Gruender
EARLIER INSTALLMENTS:
A Freshie’s Guide to the Galaxy
It’s as bad as people tell you.
I don’t mean to scare you, dear incoming Junior, but I would be remiss if I didn’t shake you by the shoulders with a death-rattle grip and tell you that this coming year will be unlike any other you’ve experienced before. Well… that is… if you choose my same path.
At the end of sophomore year, after the nerve-wracking AP World History Exam and a plethora of finals, I decided to “take it up a notch.” I was able to handle AP World History, and eight classes, I scoffed. What’s three AP Classes more? My strongest subject was English; the obvious next step was AP English Language and Composition. I barely scraped my way through IM3 STEM; but I had been told that AP Calculus AB was easier. My parents encouraged me to explore physics, due to my incessant wondering about the mechanics of the universe; AP Physics 1 seemed a snug fit. And I had taken Spanish 2 and 3 at the same time in sophomore year; it would be a waste not to try my hand at AP Spanish Language.
I shudder to even recount my brazen confidence. Four AP classes, as daunting as it sounded, could not be as difficult as everyone said they would be.
Oh, dear reader, how foolish I was. As tradition goes, I am to provide you with the unsolicited advice that you may need to face the scaled scourge upon Earth that is “Junior Year.” And believe me: I felt as if my upperclassmen had slapped a couple measly pieces of armor onto my back and a wooden sword into my unwieldy grip, before shoving me into the ring against a fire-breathing beast. But I’m in your corner. I’m your jaded mentor watching from the sidelines. Though I cannot join you in that same rite-of-passage, I can hand you a plastic slingshot and an emotional support rubber ducky.
ADVICE #1: No, You Do Not “Need” That A.
Prior to the hellish experience that was 11th grade, I maintained straight A’s throughout my entire life. Even in the subjects I struggled horrendously on—like IM3 STEM and WHAP—I was always able to claw my way back up to an A-. It was my standard. I couldn’t accept anything less.
And then I met AP Calculus, AP Spanish, and AP Physics. My habits of “just believing in myself” for all classes except for one? Not effective anymore. Marked paper after marked paper fell back to my lap with bright red markings, “3/10.” “6/10.” “Good, but awkward conjugation.” “Make sure to remember L’Hopital’s rule.” I remember giving up for a couple of weeks. I had never struggled, or (pardon my French) “sucked” academically as much as I did in those first couple months. I was not nearly as ready as I thought I was for this course load.
But things got better. I “locked in,” as the kids say, spending every waking moment on Khan Academy trying my best to understand these eldritch languages I had never once laid eyes upon before. And things got better. If you work hard, I promise you, things will get better. The progression on my Semester 1 AP Calculus transcript: from C- to B+ to A-? It’s no longer a burden of shame. It’s a badge of honor. I’m able to say, “Well, yeah, I sucked at first, but I worked hard, and look at where I am now.”
To me, (and I argue to college admissions) that’s a whole lot more impressive than being perfect at everything right off the bat. I beg of you: don’t do everything fearing that it will look bad on your college resume. Though I’m telling you that junior year is very hard, this year will not be the defining factor of your life. If you get a B in Calculus when you’re just a youngin—a 17 year old—who cares? Life does not start and end with college, so please do not live your teenage years believing that it is.
ADVICE #2: Surprise! You’re an Upperclassman, now. (Get to Know the Youngins!!)
Is that a scary thought? Now you’re the older one, the wiser one that these freshmen and sophomores will look up to. Congratulations!!! Do you feel older? Do you feel wiser? Do you know what’s happening, despite your numerous years of experience? Are you as confident and self-assured as those juniors seemed when you were a freshman? Are you fully grown?
Absolutely not. But now’s a better time than ever to start pretending.
I would argue that every lowerclassmen has formed a friendship with an upperclassman that they just can’t forget. Here they are: practically a full-grown adult taking the time to spend time with you, a freshman/sophomore. No one’s ever ready to become a mentor. But if you take the time to really connect with your lowerclassmen, get to know them—who knows? You might just gain a friend, and they might just gain an unknowing role model. Someone confident and self assured and grown, despite the fact that said upperclassman doesn’t feel like any of those things at all. Congratulations—it’s your turn.
ADVICE #3: No, Big Brother is NOT Always Watching!!!!
In my opinion, the worst way to spend one’s limited time in high school is to college-chase. Do not join clubs because you believe it will look good on your resume. Do not take as many AP classes in subjects you are not interested in because you believe you need a 5.6 GPA to get into an Ivy League. Do not try to found clubs you will abandon in a couple months, do not try to become a part of the board of several clubs of which you have no interest, do not do everything in your power to impress the proverbial Eye of College.
You are a delicious stick of butter. You have energy and time and interests of your own. But if you decide to try and spread every single inch of yourself over some toast, just to say you did—there might as well be no butter at all. Sure, you’re the president of the International Breakfast Club—which did what? You did 800 volunteer hours at Second Harvest—not because you cared, but because you cared about the resume. You were part of this club and that club, this activity and that. You’re the same size stick of butter as anybody else. As much as you try, you cannot spread yourself everywhere. The great Eye of College will see right through you.
Instead, I argue, it is a much more fulfilling thing to find something you truly love—those things are writing and theatre, to me. And throw yourself at them as hard as you can. If you love it, you’ll work hard at it. And if you work hard at it, you’ll achieve great things. In my opinion, passion shines through applications far more than obligatory community service can.
THE CONCLUSION
As much hyperbole as I’ve injected into this much-too-long article, I can confidently say that while Junior year was one of the hardest academic challenges I’ve ever faced, there were perks. I learned about myself, about what I was truly capable of and passionate about. I’m not going to be a STEM Major, for example—I fit much better with PHLEGM. I learned my priorities; I even believe I’ve developed an idea of what I want to do for the rest of my life. While much of the year was engulfed in the fiery pit of AP Education, I have no doubt; there are perks of being a junior.