Junior year is so much more than your third year in college, it's a year that you and everyone else changes. In your third year of college everything is established and changing at the same time. Your friend group is decided upon based on sophomore and freshman year. Despite having some of the same friends, the friend dynamic changes. You go from having dinner with them everyday or maybe watching a movie together on the weekends, to barely being able to have everybody's schedule have the same free time to even all hang out together. The activities then go from watching movies to drinking, because I mean why not, finally being 21. Not only do friendships change during junior year but everything about yourself begins to change. College gets crazy academically during this year. It comes with hard classes that you thought you were ready for ,but somehow you are no longer ready. You have two tests in the same week sometimes even the same day. You have to manage projects, papers and sleep somehow. You end up stuck in a slump because I mean who isn't over doing work and college in general in the third year and wanting and needing to do well. With the changing in your social and academic life, junior year just spells trouble.

I am however thankful for my junior year (I'm acting like I'm not a junior currently). I have felt myself maturing in ways that I did not think was possible and learning many necessary lessons. Lessons like its okay if you aren't doing as well academically as you usually do. Coming into junior year thinking I could just half study and do homework right before the deadline as was my methods in sophomore year and freshman year has definitely led to some downfall in the beginning of fall semester. Junior year is about reevaluating how you are doing academically, and adjusting to fit the more difficult classes. I also learned that it's OK if your friends change. By this third year, people grow a part maybe the friendship just is not the same because of the business of junior year. Despite the possibility of growing a part from some friends, it's also not too late to make new friends and you shouldn't be afraid of still smiling at strangers or asking somebody what their name is despite the fact that you might already have established friends.

Junior year changes you, and it is these changes that will not only allow you to successfully complete the rest of your college career, but also will shape what happens in your future. So here's to junior year (because you finally turn 21!), thank you for changing me in ways I never imagined.