When I was in high school, we referred to sophomore year as “the lost year." You’re not a newbie anymore, and you’re not an upperclassman. You’re lost in the crowd of those innocent-faced freshmen and seasoned seniors. You’re sort of irrelevant. You can’t claim ignorance of the rules like a freshman, but you’re not quite smart enough to get around them like a senior. The same, unfortunately, is true for sophomore year of college.
Freshman Year:
You’re new and everything is exciting! It’s a big transitional year. During move-in day, you have a move-in crew, and you’re trying to make sure everything is just right! Then you have your first day of college classes ever, your first night away from home — there are a lot of firsts. Your RA is very active in your residential life experience — making sure you’re OK, your room is OK and classes are going well. Everyone is very involved in your life freshmen year, from faculty to parents. Your parents are very concerned about how you are doing in all of your classes, making sure that your professors are nice and reminding you to drop a class if it is too hard. It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s an experience of a lifetime.
Sophomore Year:
You move into school, which is pretty uneventful. Your parents are helpful, but not as helpful as they were during freshmen move in. There’s no shopping for new stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond. There are no posts on your parents’ Facebook page announcing your arrival. No, you just quietly unpack the same stuff you packed up in May, hang your pictures and wait for class to start. After your first week of classes, you debate dropping one of your classes, to which your parents reply, “Just try and stick it out ... I really don’t want to waste money on a class you aren’t taking.” Of course, there’s the dread of going back and eating the food in the cafeteria, not to mention laundry, sober weekends during Rush and, of course, that winter that never ends. You don’t really have anything to look forward to except going back to your friends.
Junior Year:
Junior year is a big one! In both college and high school, it’s time to get yourself in gear and start working. Maybe it’s your first year off campus or off the dreaded meal plan. Either way, you arrive at school, totally uneventful. You’re lucky if your parents even come up to move you in. But, you may turn 21 this year — let’s not even go there! You’re working to get that summer internship you have always dreamed of, which will hopefully turn into the job you have always dreamed of. It’s time to start growing up and take on more responsibility.
Senior Year:
Obviously senior year is a big deal because it’s your last year in college. In only a few months, you’re going to graduate, be employed (hopefully) and (maybe) move into your own apartment! You look back on that freshman year and all its excitement. Only last year you were a junior! Wait, what happened in between? Oh yeah, that lost sophomore year!
