Junior Year: The Do's and The Don'ts
Junior year was, without a doubt, a doozie. From 10-page papers to long hours of studying George Washington and his attack on Trenton, this year was long to say the least. Many people like to box junior year in as the hardest year of school a student will ever endure. I am here to tell you that they are absolutely right. While the rest of the school is relaxing in the Commons, we are grinding out hours of homework and losing sleep thinking about whether or not we remembered everything on Dr. Barksdale’s 30-subject study guide. Although it may be tough, the year was not all bad and if you take my advice, it can go well for you too.
1. Do not take yourself too seriously
This is the number one rule for junior year. While this may be an unpopular opinion at The Galloway School, there is no reason to let your hair fall out because of math homework. While you should do it, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t.
2. PSA: Quit stressing the small stuff
Many people stress themselves out by worrying about the little things. There is nothing you can do if Dr. Jenkins assigns a group project and you hate group projects. I know things can get stressful, but the only thing we can do is put our heads down and pound out the work.
3. Individual homework assignments do not determine your college acceptances
If you get home late from sports, theater or whatever you do after school and you have to choose between homework or sleep, sleep should always wins. Sleep is super important, especially in junior year with the amount of work we have to do on a weekly basis. So if you’re an incoming junior, do your work, but try not to sacrifice sleep to do it.
4. Make junior year the best year yet
In my eyes, junior year has been my favorite. Socially, it’s the perfect age to hang out with outgoing seniors, but also introduce sophomores into the upperclassmen community. Galloway does an amazing job of facilitating this. With grade mixing in classes and socially, it creates the perfect community for younger kids to become more mature. Our teachers do an amazing job of this as well. While AP classes and some advanced classes have both juniors and seniors, juniors are expected to act just as mature as our elders and are tasked with the same work. This has transformed me into a much better student and while I struggled during my freshman and sophomore years, I learned how to be a productive member of the Galloway community as a junior.
As I mentioned before, junior year can be scary. There is plenty of work and yes, it’s tough, but, if you’re at Galloway, it becomes substantially easier. The faculty here have done an amazing job making this bumpy transition into being an upperclassman an easier one. The junior year teachers are some of the best at Galloway, and if you’re an incoming junior here, don't be scared of the mountain of work that needs to be done, be excited at the opportunity to become a better, more mature member of the Galloway community.
By Adam Smith