In high school, they say that junior year is supposed to be the most stressful, yet important, year of high school. But my year so far has felt neither strenuous nor pressurizing, and it’s hard for me to even fathom that an entire month of school has already gone by. 

Only a few minor things have changed.

After attending school in person for a year, I’ve finally learned all the shortcuts in the building.  Obviously, my classes are different, but this year, I have a new counselor. All of my friends who were seniors in high school last year are now freshmen in college. My grandma is now in India, and for the next couple of months, I will be living the life of an only child. 

I have the same teacher for math, which I don’t mind, and I still get the pleasure of ending my day with the most joyful class ever, The Central Trend. After a whole year of waiting, I was finally able to get one of my favorite teachers into my schedule whom I had freshman year. 

Even though I had to wait a whole year to have this teacher in my schedule again, I would not have it any other way. But, if there’s one thing that sets my junior year apart from my other years of high school, it would be that this time, I went in with a plan. 

One mistake I made going into my sophomore year was that I didn’t make a plan when it came to choosing my courses. This was because I was never able to make a four-year plan forcing me to “improvise, adapt and overcome,” a phrase I often hear my AP World History teacher saying. 

Another mistake that won’t be repeating itself is letting my life pass by before I get to experience it. My goal for this year is to be equally invested in my school life and social life, which is something that I have always struggled with. 

Aside from all the mistakes I’ve made, one good thing that’s come from making them would be being able to get my gym and health credits waived for taking three years of a language to free up my schedule for my senior year. 

But because time machines don’t exist, here is what I would’ve done differently.  I wouldn’t have taken another year of French, and I would have taken Honors English 10 instead of Traditional English 10. In place of participating in HOSA, I would have done DECA to show my interest in business to colleges. 

Although I will miss the memories and experiences encapsulated within sophomore year, it is not really a year that I picture myself ever revisiting, mainly because of how confused and lost I felt. 

A year later, I still feel lost, but I seem to have more of an idea of what direction I want my life to go in.