Sophomore year is an interesting conundrum. We're no longer freshman, but we're not quite as mature as the juniors and seniors. It's an odd year because no one really knows much about anything, but a little about a lot. If you have to break down the college experience, it can be said that each year represents a distinct phase in a person's life.

Freshman year is the year that you have to sink or swim. Everything is new and confusing. While your classes still matter, they don't matter enough. Intro classes aren't so important that you have to spend an ungodly amount of time in the library trying to cram every piece of minute knowledge into your tired, over-caffinated brain. You are free to do what you when you want. The freedom is exhilarating and scary, but the point of freshman year is to embrace and get over it. This is the year you learn a little bit about who you are and what you want to do.

Junior year is all about jobs and internships and thinking, 'oh crap I've got to be an adult if I want to get a job.' Everyone is over their party days. They get down to business and show off all they learned at their first summer internship (if they were lucky enough to get one). Or, they show off all they learned in their first few major classes. Whatever they've done they're going to show it off so that they stand out when everyone goes for blood during the internship fair at the beginning of second semester. That annoying kid from your class that thinks he knows everything? Yeah, he is your competition. This is the year you learn that you'll do anything for a job.

Seniors come back from vacation thinking either they're over college or want to live here forever. It really depends on how their internships went that summer. If they feel like they definitely have a job, then they're more than ready to sit back and enjoy senior year. If not, they've got to give it all they've got to make it. There is no more trial run. They're about to enter the real world and act like everything is OK. This is the year they learn to trust their abilities, or go down trying.

So what is sophomore year? Sophomore year is odd. You're still a new kid on the scene. Yes, the freshman don't know half of what you do but they're learning quickly. If you start to take some of your major classes that can be intimidating. You walk in the first day thinking you know a lot but you quickly realize that everything you thought you knew was wrong. Don't worry, the upperclassmen will definitely let you know just how wrong you are.

Those upperclassmen? Yeah, they know way more than you and they're all friends. It's not intimidating... at all. You're the Gunther in this scenario. Sure, they'll try to buddy up to you when it's test time, but you'll know that they don't actually care.

But what makes the sophomore slump a slump is the fact that you just have no idea what to do with your life. Someone mentioned to you once about joining some clubs and seeking out a mentor... but that flew right over your head while you were worried about how many nights you could go out without doing any of your philosophy 1001 reading. You've got responsibilities now. You've got to at least do something with your life. That's scary and upsetting -- trust me I know.

Don't worry though. There is still time. You can turn this sophomore slump into a sophomore success in no time. You've just got to believe in yourself. Oh, and maybe try to get one of those job things....