Almost every sophomore experiences the "sophomore slump:" feeling like the overlooked middle child when your second year of college doesn't live up to the quality of your first year. Now, we have a little more knowledge and experience under our belts. We no longer have to attend those first-year seminars, and gone are the days of freshman forgiveness and the freshman 15. Now, as winter break looms ahead and finals are constantly being hinted at, big decisions are also in our midsts. Sure, we've already declared our majors but what will we do with the rest of our lives? Will we study abroad? And, if so, where will we go?

Sophomore year started differently than freshman year. It wasn't as new. Life settled into a routine and I knew what I should be doing but, for some reason, I felt lost. It seemed like everything was stressful, chaotic, and draining. Even relationships got complicated. Wasn't my sophomore year supposed to be easier now that I had a year's experience? Apparently not.

As the months went by and I noticed that as I spoke to other sophomores around me, they too were experiencing a slump similar to mine. The year was harder than expected. More advanced classes, more homework, and a huge amount of stress were some things we all seemed to have in common. We were all expected to be familiar with many expectations: have a large social crowd, know our major, know our career paths, be involved on campus, navigate young adult life, make good decisions, make a continued positive progress throughout the year, and somehow get the right amount of sleep and eat healthily. It seemed all we could do was complain and get on with our lives.

I had to find a way out of this sophomore slump. So, how could I do that? It's been more of a process than a single answer. I found, so far, that talking has been a great help. I've talked to friends, close friends, sisters, and advisers. The more I could describe my feelings and put them into words, the more I began to make progress. I also realized that it's okay to be unsure about the future and feel confused about my decisions; learning that I don't have to have everything figured out right now helped me.

The sophomore slump is as real as the freshman 15. Many college sophomores experience it. My experience may be completely different from yours but, trust me, talking about how you feel or getting anything off your chest will make you feel better.