Don't get me wrong, I am just excited as the next longhorn to be back at school with all my friends and be thousands of miles away from nagging parents who just yelled at you to do something all summer. But, with summer drawing to a close and the school year now here... it's time to face the music. As much as we'd love to live in sylly week forever, there are quite a few things (some superficial) we sophomores are dreading.
1. Taking courses within our major.
Okay, this is an exciting thing but also kind of scary because some of us still aren't 100% sure this is the field for us. This is the year where we'll most likely find out if we have what it takes to stay in our major or if our life is destined to head in another direction. There's also more pressure on getting the classes you need during registration because unlike freshman year you can't just take an upper division course at your local community college.
2. Living in an apartment farther from campus
Another exciting thing which also comes with some downfalls. A good percentage of us are now living in apartments rather than dorms which not only mean a farther walk to campus but a lot more responsibility. Yes, we don't have to eat nasty dining hall food but now we actually have to cook for ourselves? Umm... how much do you think a personal chef would cost? Do they take payment in college tears? Worse than cooking is CLEANING especially since your cleaning space is about to be a lot bigger in an apartment.
3. We're no longer the babies.
We can no longer use the excuse that "we didn't know any better" because we did. It's nice to finally know the ins and out of UT but another year smarter just means another year closer to graduating and I don't think any of us are ready for that. We're no longer wide-eyed and innocent, we're seasoned now which means we know just how hard the coming year will be and the child-like wonder of what college may hold for us is no longer there.
4. Bittersweet 20.
You're no longer a teen anymore but you're also not really at adulthood yet so instead, you're stuck in this weird limbo that no one really knows what to call. Also, strap in for one more year of legal sobriety because oh yeah you're STILL not 21. Basically, 20 is one of the most pointless birthdays ever but congratulations on two decades I guess?
5. A car
Again, most of us lived in dorms freshman year and for almost all of us, that meant no car. But it's sophomore year now and we've finally begged mom and dad enough to let us have one here at college. With a car comes paying for parking and gas as well and mom and dad may have been nice enough to let us bring our car but that doesn't mean they'll be nice enough to pay for all its necessities. Which brings me to my next point...
6. Jobs & Internships galore
If you weren't an overachiever freshman year then you're just now starting to think about job opportunities and internships for not only the coming school year but the summer and sequential years to follow. It's time to hop on HireALonghorn and snag em up before they're all gone.
7. Planning for the future
The most popular year for college students to study abroad is their junior year and here at The Grand Ol' University of Texas, students have to apply a year in advance for such programs. So buckle down and figure out just where your travel bug wants to fly and fast because before you know it those deadlines will be creeping up out of nowhere.
8. Growing up
Your freshman year you were still a baby just barely in the real world and sure we're still pretty young but it's almost like we've got a little bit of wisdom under our belt yet. We have college experience now and that makes us semi-grown up. It's sad because as you say goodbye to the summer you also say goodbye to your hometown once again (if you even bothered going home) because let's face it, that's probably your last summer you'll spend at home. Next summer you could be in Austin taking classes, studying overseas, or even in some fancy new internship in a foreign place.
It's great to be back at the best university in the world but it does come with some hard realities. This is why we should enjoy every second of our sophomore year before we're back here next year with a list of junior struggles. ;)
