This was my first semester as a sophomore, and it was a shock compared to my freshman year. Academics became harder while schedules became busier. As I struggled throughout the semester, I thought I was the only one having a difficult sophomore year, but after talking to my friends, I found out I wasn't alone. Everyone seemed to be studying more, going out less and still struggling to get by.
After talking to my friends and trying to find out what we had in common to see why we were all having difficulties, I think I came to a conclusion. Sophomore year of college is equivalent to junior year of high school -- the year everyone starts seriously looking at colleges, taking AP classes and, overall, facing a heavier academic schedule. In your sophomore year of college, you are expected to declare a major, take upper level classes, look for internships and take leadership positions in clubs.
Overall, the responsibilities of sophomore year don’t sound terrible, but they hit you like a brick after freshman year. Freshman year is relatively easy and fun. Between moving into your first dorm room, meeting new people and exploring a new campus and college town, everything is new and exciting. Schedules mostly consist of core classes, which, for the most part, aren’t extremely demanding. There is plenty of time to get all of your work done, get involved in campus, go out with friends and get a decent amount of sleep.
After about a year of new adventures, familiarity starts to set in. Don’t get me wrong, familiarity is not a bad thing at all. It is great to have a dependable group of friends, know the best restaurants to eat at in town and know which professors to not take for a certain class. However, when familiarity starts to set in, the excitement of a new school starts to disappear. After that excitement starts to die down, responsibilities kick in.
Responsibilities are necessities and are great to have; however, when they all hit you at once, they can be hard to juggle. This first semester was slightly overwhelming, stressful and rough, but I’m sure it will get better. I have absolutely no doubt that classes will continue to get harder. It is something that I have come to both expect and accept. Sophomore year was way harder than freshman year, but I now feel prepared to take on the last two years of college.
