OPINION: Advice for future sophomores

By Grace Hachey

If you’re reading this, you’re most likely reaching the end of your freshman year. As your first year of your high school experience comes to a close, your second year begins. 

As a freshman, you don’t get much freedom to choose your classes. You’ll usually take the typical English, foreign language, history, biology, algebra, and fitness classes- along with maybe one or two electives. 

But as a sophomore, you’re given more freedom to choose your classes. You have the option to take honors classes and even AP courses, in some cases. You also start to sneak in some electives. Now don’t get me wrong, taking honors classes will definitely benefit you in the long run; however, don’t feel like you need to pack your schedule with all challenging classes. For the sake of your overall mental health, I would strongly advise against expecting yourself to be able to take on too much. But . . . you know you best.

I would recommend attempting to take two challenging classes and two easier classes in a semester if you can. Pick two subjects that you do well in, and challenge yourself within them. I don’t think, you’ll regret it. 

Aside from academics, there’s so much waiting for you in your sophomore year. Although you’re still an underclassman, you are no longer the youngest in the school. My advice would be to put yourself out there, and make friends with people from all friend groups and grade levels. 

Of course, you’ll always have your close friends. But don’t limit yourself to the people you’ve known your whole life. When you walk into a class on the first day, you may not know anyone. Instead of thinking, “I have to switch out of this class because I’m going to look like a loser,” say to yourself, “I’ll just have to make a friend.” You’d be surprised how many friends you’ll make just by introducing yourself to the kid sitting next to you. 

Although many may disagree with me, I completely agree with the phrase, “Fake it till you make it.” Now, hold on. Of course. I’m not telling you to be completely fake and hold everything in. It’s good to share your problems or seek advice. 

However, let’s say you have a huge chemistry test and you have no idea what you’re doing. Go into it thinking, “I got this.” Maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised. 

Another example would be if you spilled orange juice all over yourself before you left home and you thought about going right back to bed and skipping school. But you put a smile on your face and confidently stepped onto that school bus. 

In the end, my biggest piece of advice would just be to laugh as much as you can. Sophomore year can be rough – trust me. You flunked your math test? Laugh about it. You just tripped up the stairs in front of everyone? Laugh about it. 

I’m not saying don’t try to do well on your math tests or it’s bad to be a little embarrassed after tripping. But don’t let those things bring you down because you and everyone else are going to forget and move on. 

That one math test won’t make you fail high school and you won’t always be known as the kid who fell up the stairs. In the end everyone is just trying to graduate, and everyone is in the same boat as you. 

You can take my advice, or you can pretend you never read this. Either way, sophomore year will most likely be a pretty good year. Meet new people, take classes that interest you, and always remember to laugh. Welcome to sophomore year. Good Luck!