Congrats, rising sophomores! You survived your first year of high school!

Sophomore year is important. You aren’t just out of middle school with no idea how to navigate high school anymore; you are a seasoned veteran. You have one whole year of experience under your belt and probably have a sense of the rhythm of high school. In freshman year, hopefully you joined a few clubs and sports teams. Now, as a sophomore, you can dive deeper into your interests. Maybe take on an extra responsibility in a club you are in or even try a new one!

You also have more freedom with class choices as a sophomore. My biggest piece of advice for class choices is to take classes that interest you. As a sophomore, you don’t have as much choice in class selection as you do as a junior or senior, but you can still make more choices than you were able to as a freshman. Try to take gym and art classes in your sophomore year, so that when you have more choice as an upperclassman, you don’t have to sacrifice a class you are really interested in to fill your requirements.

Sophomore year bumps up a level of difficulty from freshman year. As a sophomore, it is important to develop strong study and homework habits so that you can get your work done to the best of your ability, and you can be successful. Not only will these routines and habits help you in sophomore year, they will also carry on into your junior, senior years, and maybe even college, too! When my motivation was particularly low this year, I rewarded myself with a piece of chocolate or a small sweet treat every time I wrote a paragraph for an essay or finished a class’ assignment for the night. I felt like I was training a puppy, but it got the job done. Hopefully, you will develop better habits than mine, but it is important to figure out what works for you and makes you the most successful.

As a sophomore, you aren’t an upperclassman stressing about college (and you shouldn’t be stressing about college either!) My biggest mistake as a sophomore was that I was incredibly stressed about college. Well, guess what– college is two whole years away! Focus on getting the most out of your high school experience, discover your interests, and the rest will fall into place. If you are stressed, maybe try another extracurricular, but make sure your college anxiety doesn’t consume you because you are still so far away and you will miss out on your high school experience.

Finally, make sure you take care of yourself. Sophomore year is challenging and is a step up from being a freshman. While doing well academically is definitely important, being healthy both physically and mentally is necessary. Don’t feel nervous to reach out to teachers about your stress (and maybe ask for an extension) and you can always go see Ms. Botty if you need to.

In case you just skimmed through (no judgement here — I’m tired, too), here are the main pieces of advice I hope you will take into consideration.

1. Dig deep into your interests and get more involved in clubs/sports
2. Take classes that interest you
3. Get your gym and art credits in
4. Develop strong study habits
5. Don’t stress about college
6. Take care of yourself

Photo by Matese Fields on Unsplash