As the school year is slowly winding down, I can't help but reflect back on my high school junior year. From the beginning of the year, one of my teachers told me that junior year is the "Year of Tears." This stressed me out already. Through trial and error, I managed to get through the entire year. There were rough patches once in a while, but I eventually got through it. And to help all of you rising juniors, here are some tips on how to survive junior year.
1. Take your SAT/ACT this fall.
I cannot stress this enough. Before taking the tests, be sure to try practice tests for each standardized test and determine which is the best one to take. Sometimes, taking both isn't beneficial. It just adds on more work and time. In addition, most of the time, people have to retake their SATs and ACTs.
So, it is very crucial to start preparing for the tests early in case you do want to take the ACT instead of the SAT. It also allows room to retake your SATs or ACTs. It is important to take your standardized tests before senior year starts, as you will be starting to apply to your early decision/early action colleges.
2. Be productive.
Although this is such a common tip, you cannot afford to waste your time this year.
With all of the extracurriculars and challenging classes I had along with taking my ACT and SAT, I realized that I had to stop wasting my time. There were several weeks throughout my junior year when I had to study for about three to four tests along with two quizzes. On top of that, I also had to prepare for my ACT test while dealing with my extracurriculars.
Because of that experience, I had to put away my phone multiple times in order to effectively study and prepare for everything. There were times when I had to put my phone downstairs and turn off iMessage on my computers and phones to prevent myself from becoming distracted. Being productive will make things easier. You will become stressed if you do not become productive.
3. Manage your time well.
Having an agenda is a MUST. With multiple extracurriculars, challenging classes and ACT preparation, I had to manage my time well. Otherwise I would begin to lose track on what I had to do that week or the week after.
It is important to keep an agenda to write down important dates and deadlines. In addition, I also had small to-do lists everyday. This helped me to make sure what I needed to get done for each class. That way, I don't have to be that person who always finds out that I have a quiz/test the period before.
You need to know that if you do not manage your time well, you will become stressed. Although junior year is very stressful, it's best to try to control your stress levels.
4. Go out with your friends.
There's not much to say about this tip.
Of course, it's okay to take a break once in a while. Sometimes just going out with friends will truly help out with your stress. While maintaining good grades on top of extracurriculars and ACT, I really needed some time out from sitting in front of my desk 24/7.
Going out with your friends helps take your mind off from your responsibilities, giving your mind a break. It's truly helpful to your mental state, and I highly suggest that you do not try to prevent yourself from going out with your friends. However, there is a fine line between going out once in a while to going out too frequently.
5. Take each and every one of your classes seriously.
Even if you have maybe about three challenging classes, it is important to take note that each and every class matters. While I was taking three AP classes, I tended to focus my time and energy more on those classes. However, there are times when you are unable to achieve the grade you want for each class. In that case, it is important to do extremely well in your other classes in order to keep up your GPA.
In my case, I wasn't the best in my AP Physics 1 class. Despite the fact I spent hours studying for the class, I still struggled. In that case, I worked just as hard for my other classes in order to maintain my GPA.
Your junior year GPA is rather important, as it is one of the last attempts to keep your grade up good enough for colleges to approve of.
6. Ask for help from your teachers.
Sometimes you can't handle everything; you can't do all of your homework in one night and study for two tests all at once. It's okay to ask for help from your teachers or friends. Although I have never done this before, many of my friends who absolutely could not take the tests or quizzes asked the teacher for an extension. Teachers are very understanding of your situation. You shouldn't be afraid to ask.
It is important to note that when school work has piled up to the point it is humanely impossible to handle it all at once, you most likely did not manage your time well. However, there are occasions when these things came to be that was just out of your control. Whatever the cause was, it is important to go to a teacher and talk about what is going on.
Teachers do understand and they will help out most of the time. It never hurts to ask for an extension. However, do note that you shouldn't take advantage of your teachers and ask for extensions too much.
7. It's okay to be stressed.
There were multiple times when I just eventually had to take a step back and just take a break. I can honestly say that this year was definitely stressful for me. However, rather than just hiding my stress, I just let it all out. Most of the time, I confided in my friends, who helped me along the way. But if you're also afraid that you're bothering your friends too much (which was also me), I had a small journal to talk about my stresses.
It's important to let all of your emotions out. The longer you hold it in and hide it, the worse it gets. Trust me. You cannot hold it in. Do whatever it takes to stop from ruining your mental health. Take a break. I had to take a step back multiple times throughout this entire year, mostly from feeling pressured in a highly competitive high school.
Don't hide your stress; try to embrace it to move forward.
Whatever happens, I wish you the best of luck to all of you rising juniors. Know that if I got through junior year, so can you. And remember, just one more year after junior year ends!
