That moment when you catch yourself applying for multiple internships, spending more time at the library than your actual apartment, and laughing at people when they ask if you’re going out on Wednesday: Junior year in full swing. While I’ve always been conscious of the underclassmen-upperclassmen divide, I never expected this huge of a wakeup call like the one my junior year gave me. It’s this time of your life when the epiphany hits you, “Oh, I can’t stay in college forever…”

Entrance into the real world as a full-fledged adult begins to become clearer and starts to physically materialize right in front of your eyes. You find yourself networking as much as possible, while your Facebook feed is flooded with college graduations, engagement announcements and weddings.

As a junior your workload increases and your classes become much more rigorous, but they’re also much more intriguing, engaging, and will actually be useful to you in your future career. 

While sophomore year was a time of spontaneity, last minute trips, and cramming the night before a test, junior year is a much more grounded period of your life. You find yourself staying in because you’re actually that exhausted. Your week must be mapped out in front of you, and if you didn’t own a planner before, you certainly do now.

Free time becomes this amazing phenomenon that is all too rare. And when you do happen to have an hour or two of free time, it’s instantly devoted to Netflix or sleep. Sleep becomes foreign and for the weak, and by now you’ve perfected pulling an all-nighter, which is a skill used regularly throughout the semester. 

Thoughts of admission tests, such as the LSAT, MCAT and GRE keep you awake at night and threaten to drive you into a mental breakdown. You’ve started asking the Starbucks baristas and your nursing friends if there’s anyway they can set you up with a coffee/caffeine IV.

While the jump does seem like a rough one, it is also exciting. You’ve found your closest friends and have your priorities straight (for the most part). You have found an organization on campus you’re truly passionate about, and when you do allow yourself to have fun, you pack as much fun as possible into that timeframe. You are more comfortable with yourself and have discovered some of your passions. 

As a junior, you’ve gained enough college experiences, funny stories, and academic hardships to have a valuable plethora of survival skills for college students. Senior year will fine tune your incredible skills and be one of the final tests before you become an actual adult. The future is in sight and it’s a bright, promising place full of opportunity and the next step of life.