Assignment 24 - Erin

I spent the majority of my sophomore year with the creeping dread of what my junior year would have in store. And honestly . . . I was underwhelmed. My anxiety-ridden doomsday device of a brain catastrophized The Junior Year of Hell™. What followed could never live up to that expectation.

Sure, at times the school work was like getting hit by a bus while trying to jump off a cliff. But never did I feel that I was in so deep that I couldn’t save myself. Except in the case of AP Physics. My GPA suffered for that class. However, I did manage to keep my head above metaphorical water in terms of my grades. I’m not talking best in class levels, but I’ll be finishing the year with grades I feel like I’ve earned and that I’m proud of, which in my eyes is a success.

A lot of people don’t understand how I can remain so calm and not appear to be stressed by the immense amount of pressure that comes with junior year studies. My answer to that is everything will be fine. Why worry about that little calculus test? In ten years, I won’t remember any of that, so there’s no reason to stress about it now. Keeping the big picture in mind has been something I have learned to do throughout this year. And that has significantly reduced my stress levels.

On the social side of things, I’d have to say junior year has brought myself and several others very close in a short span of time. Through this second semester, my amazing #JunkerPhotoSquad has been my support base for making some really cool art, and I love them to bits. I can’t fathom where I would be without those hooligans, who make every day of school worth it for me. It’s the hours spent aimlessly roaming the empty halls and lawns of Henry Clay with those guys that made my year a good time. That little friend group brought out a side in me that very few people get to see. The side of me that dances in public, laughs too loud too often, and listens to obnoxiously loud movie soundtracks while driving definitely too fast around downtown. They fuel my creative passions every time I see them because the three of them are incredibly talented themselves. And I know that all of them are headed wonderful, incredible places.

If an underclassman were to ask me what the key to having a solid junior year is, I’d reply, “Find yourself a core of people who feed your talents and make you strive to be the best you can be. Find the people who draw out your hyperactive slightly manic side, and love every second of it. Find those people. Keep them close. And try to take it all in because before you know it you’re scheduling your senior year classes and it’s almost over.”