Junior year is a big year as a college student. You are well established at your school, graduation actually begins to feel like an attainable goal and you have shared so many great memories with your friends. Junior year is definitely not all fun and games though. Here are some of the biggest struggles of the third year of college:
1. The ever increasing workload.
Remember freshman year? It was so nice. You always seemed to have time to relax, your courses were so easy and professors gave you a break because it was your first year. No such chance now. If anything professors seem to go out of their way to make your life hell.
2. The job search.
One incredibly frustrating aspect of junior year is that you can only apply for the same part time jobs you applied for in high school but you have a much higher set of skills now. Employers don't care about the two to three years of research skills you have under your belt as long as you can flip a burger. Also, somehow 18-year-old Carl that you remember as a freshman in high school is now your boss and you end up questioning all your life choices.
3. Everything that used to be new and exciting is now stale and boring.
Remember when you used to have those moments where you thought "wow, I'll never get sick of this! I love college!" Turns out you can get sick of it. Very sick of it. Doing the same things for two years straight does in fact get old.
4. You envy the freshman.
Every freshman you see is so full of energy, optimism and experiencing things for the first time. They aren't bitter and jaded about everything. Those were the good days. Somehow when you hang out with a group of freshman you end up feeling more like a grandparent than you'd like.
5. Internships.
Oh, you don't want to pay me for the 40 hours of work I put in each week? Yeah, that's totally fine. I'll just eat my "work experience" to prevent going hungry. No big deal. Seriously, unpaid internships are the worst and somehow you're supposed to feel grateful for them.
6. The debt starts piling up.
The loans you had to take out didn't feel so bad the first year. It feels bad now. It feels really really awful. All you can think about is how many years it is going to take to pay these off. And then you cry (a lot).
7. The weekly existential crisis.
It is easy to feel like you're stagnating in your third year of college. Then you start questioning all the choices you've made. Am I in the right program? Will I ever find a job with my degree? Why did I chose to go to college in the first place? Soon enough you won't even be able to make a simple choice without having a serious crisis about it.
8. The hangovers.
Somehow I managed to really not get hangovers in my first two years of college. Now I drink two beers and I'm unable to be a productive human the next day. Thirsty Thursday is a thing of the past if I want to go to any of my Friday classes.
9. Post-graduation plans.
Everyone is asking you what you're planning on doing once you graduate. Grad school? Work? Travel? Move back home for a bit? Honestly, I don't even know what I'm eating for dinner that day so no, I really don't know what my post-graduation plans are but thank you for causing yet another panic attack about what I am doing with my future.
10. The looming reality of graduation.
Graduation is getting closer by the day and you can actually start to picture yourself getting there. Although exciting, the concept of graduation is absolutely terrifying. I am not sure if I will ever be ready for graduation.
11. People expect you to actually act like a responsible adult.
No thank you. I will gladly eat my boxed mac and cheese sitting on my living room floor with a coloring book. Its going to be a hard no on this whole "adulthood" thing.
