Junior year: a year of growth. But with that growth comes an incredible weight. This year was one of the best but also the worst years of my life. I had a lot of firsts, some lasts, and endless obstacles to get over. I still do.
On the first day of school, I was so ready to make memories with my friends and finally be an upperclassman. But junior year is, in fact, as hard as everyone says it is. Not only academically, but also emotionally.
Grade-wise, I have been doing fine this year. The first semester was okay, but I often got overwhelmed with work. The second semester was definitely the worst of it. School became so demanding, and that, mixed with sports and a job, became a huge stressor.
Every day, I was dreading coming to school. Getting out of my car every day to walk into that building was honestly terrible. My mental health was in the depths during this year, and no matter what I did, it felt like I was only getting worse.
Not only was school affecting my mental health, but also the social circle drama. It’s a rumor that drama stops after middle school. It gets less immature, but it definitely does not go away. When your friends are ignoring you on top of already not doing well, that makes matters a whole lot worse.
I talked about a lot of negative things, but junior year was not all bad. I met some new people and gained some really good friendships this year, as well as lost some. I am so blessed with the people I have grown close to this year that it is hard to complain about them. I had many new experiences, and I started to feel like I was really getting old.
Things from boys, to friends, to parties and functions all surfaced for me this year. Socially, things were pretty good. Mentally, they were pretty bad.
Overall, everyone is right about junior year. I have no doubt it was my worst year of high school. But it did grant me many opportunities to learn things about myself and others, and be able to grow my character through that. Now I am onto new things with almost being a senior, and I could not be more excited for this year to finally come to an end.
For anyone going into junior year, all I have to say is good luck. You will experience a lot of sadness, grief, and loss of motivation. But on the bright side, it is only one year long, and then after that, you have a super fun senior year to look forward to. That is what has gotten me through the last few weeks.
