Coming back to school this August seemed like it would be a breeze. I knew where I was going, I packed everything myself, and hit the road in my overstuffed Mini Cooper, ready to take on year two. From the outside it seemed like I had everything under control, but I was literally shaking while gripping my steering wheel on the highway to Boulder on the road to my sophomore year, on the road to living without my family once again.
For instate kids like me, we’re expected not to be homesick because this state is our home. And for out of state students the homesickness is even more intense. You would think that for all of us, regardless of where we are from, would feel way less nervous about beginning our second year at school than our first. But after the adjustment of spending the whole summer at home and getting used to living there again, moving an hour away isn’t as easy as it sounds. Three months of working and living at home made me very not ready to return to the hustle and bustle of school. Of course, my nerves were settled once I moved into a house with all of my best friends, but we’re all going through this sophomore struggle side by side.
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Sophomore year is the year where everything is the same yet everything is different. We’re out of the dorms, out of the dining halls and on our own. Our professors know that we have a whole year under our belt already, so syllabus week becomes syllabus day, and midterms seem to come sooner than ever. We’re taking more credits, harder classes, fighting the battle between sleep and a social life, and doing our best not to call our mom while we have a mental breakdown.
What I’ve learned during these first few months of year two is that if you ask around no one really knows what they’re doing. If someone seems like they know, chances are they’re just pretending and we really are all in this together. As much as these college struggles seem like mediocre first world problems, the stress of university life can play a big toll on anyone and it’s so important to take care of each other. Take the time to listen to your friends and I guarantee they’ll return the favor when you need it.
The sophomore slump is real, but we have to remember we’ve made it this far. It’s okay if you cried on the phone to your mom last night and if you think you want to change your major, but you’re scared it’s too late. It’s totally normal to be too sad and stressed to go out and have a case of FOMO watching everyone’s Snapchat stories in the morning. You’re never alone no matter how much you feel like it.
So to my fellow members of the class of 2018, cheers to being halfway through semester one of with year two. We still have a ways to go, but we have a lot to look forward to. Let’s show everyone what we’re made of and remember the Sophomore Slump doesn’t last forever.
