With the end of the first semester drawing near, I felt it would be best to tell what Junior year has taught me so far.
I have learned that friendships change. The ones that you thought would last forever end in an instant. The friendships that you felt like were in danger of ending get stronger. You make more friends and get rid of your enemies. In this one semester, I have realized that I don't have time for petty drama, and the relationship you have with your friends should not stress you out. Life isn't going to slow down for any of us, so we should all look at our lifelong friends while we're young and still have some time to ourselves.
Secondly, I have grown to understand that procrastination is no ones friend. Sophomore year is great and fun and there is little to no stress when it comes to schoolwork. As soon as you walk into Junior year, the door hits you where the good Lord split you. AP is like a never ending cycle of research papers, stupid books (looking at you, Billy Budd), and about a million different handouts. You have your dual credit classes, extracurricular activities, social life, and responsibilities that you have to distribute time to. Time management is something that has to become your BFF if you actually want to be able to sleep.
During this year (thus far), life has taught me that you have to step out of your comfort zone. Prior to 11th grade, I had always been pretty shy and somewhat outgoing. My shyness has slowly gotten better over the years but this year, it's almost totally gone. Not good at public speaking? Join the speech team or get involved with drama. Scared to show off your talent? Audition for the musical, join choir or band, get into art classes, join a team. Do something that while it might make you feel slightly uncomfortable in the beginning, will improve your overall character and maybe even outlook on life. Do things that not only make your face smile, but also your heart.
I'll write an article updating the way life is throwing lessons at me at the end of next semester and hopefully, I'll have some more wisdom to spread.
