At the end of my sophomore, year I was always told to be prepared for junior year because it was going to be the most stressful. I am usually great under high pressure situations, so I always took that with a grain of salt and never listened. That was until I fell victim to stress of my own.
Although I got many warnings, I was never told exactly what I got myself into. Junior year could be pretty stressful in its self, but my four AICE and AP courses did not help either. If you are a person who cannot handle the pressure of multiple due dates in one week, or even sometimes the same day, then I would suggest taking less. I certainly wish I had, it would have lowered my stress level for sure.
Colleges look to your junior year as a reference to what you have done in your high school career, so it is important that junior year reflects your best; otherwise it isn’t the greatest look for colleges. That right there, lingering in the back of your mind, is a whole stressor in itself. On top of that, there are SATs and ACTs to take that also matter for college. Some will call these tests the most important part of being ready for college, so it is important to do well on that. If not, you will have to deal with retaking it and trust me, it is not a test that you want to retake.
All in all, junior year is stressful. A large part of that stress is the fact that you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, and no matter how many times someone else says it, you will never truly understand until you have experienced it yourself. During junior year, it is important to stay strong and don’t give up. There are going to be some nights where all you want to do is sleep, but you have to finish your work. Those are going to be some trying times, but at the end of it all when you know you’ve done your best it will be worth it, especially when you get into your dream college.
