By Penny Nunes
Everyone warns you about how bad sophomore year of high school is, but often incoming sophomores brush that off and forget about it. People will tell you how you struggle with friends, slowly lose care for your grades, and never have the energy to hangout. But…the first semester shows how none of that is true, right? I mean going to football games and going to get food straight after with all your friends creates such core memories. No longer being a freshman and being looked down upon, getting people to take you more seriously, and knowing your way around campus are all great things! “Man, what were these people on about! Sophomore year is AWESOME!”
Yeah, that’s what we all thought until the second semester came. Personally, friends didn’t become an issue for me—instead of struggling with friends more sophomore year, I struggled less! I finally found a friend group for myself, and one that loves me dearly at that. However, academically that was not the case. I struggled a lot with mental health this semester, often falling into different and strange versions of myself that couldn’t be recognized. School work just became hard, even the easiest things took so much energy out of me. I was fully drained, “Oh no, their stories about sophomore slump were real.” My head looped around this thought constantly. I couldn’t let myself fall down a hole; so I kept pushing through. I gave every assignment my all, caught up on missing work, and focused on doing my best. My best won’t always be the same as someone else’s best. Although school work is important, it is more important to take care of yourself and your body. Yes, I still get behind in my homework, but it’s because I prioritize myself and my well being after everything that happened this semester. I began to take things slowly.
This story might sound dumb or silly to you, but the point of it is to express that not all of sophomore year has to be bad. It is how you make it, and making time for yourself and your wellbeing will take you a lot further than anything else.