Students reveal their fears of junior year

Mia Seidel

Alexa Field, Staff Writer
October 11, 2018

Welcome back BSM class of 2020, and welcome to the infamous junior year.

The rumors about junior year are endless and are so widespread that they even intimidate the freshmen. “I’ve heard that junior year is the hardest year and it’s a lot of work and it’s stressful,” freshman Sydney Drees said.

Living with older brothers Dylan (class of 2019) and Derek (class of 2017), Drees has gotten the full rundown of junior year. “They said the ACT is pretty bad because the studying takes a long time and it’s very stressful the day of. They also said the workload is a lot more in junior year and you need to stay on top of it or else you’ll fall behind,” Drees said.

With rigorous classes such as AP United States History and Honors Chemistry offered junior year, it’s no surprise that juniors feel overwhelmed. “My brothers told me that it’s [hard] because of all the AP courses kicking in and that colleges expect you to do well,” sophomore Piper Ehlen said.

Along with Drees, Ehlen’s brothers Quinn (class of 2018) and Griffin (class of 2016) also let her know the real insight of what junior year entails. “[Griffin and Quinn] said that…you need to focus on time management or you’re not going to do as great as you want and time management includes doing your homework, studying and the ACT,” Ehlen said.

Ehlen also confirmed a well-known rumor regarding Honors Chemistry. “I’ve heard that honors chemistry is really hard and that most people do really bad,” Ehlen said. The chemistry class is often at the heart of all junior year rumors and is almost as notorious as the dreaded standardized tests.

Nearly 95% of colleges across the country are either test optional or require students to take either the ACT or SAT according to U.S. News. These three-hour tests often times require a massive amount of work. BSM has implemented an ACT preparation class as a part of the wellness credits for juniors. This new class is now required for juniors during their first-semester wellness class and meets once a week. But still, is junior year really worth all the hype? 

Aside from all the negative experiences synonymous with junior year, this year’s juniors seem to think it really isn’t that bad. “Actually, I thought it would be a lot harder than it is, at least in these first few weeks, but it’s been manageable,” junior Elizabeth Valley said.

After students learn to balance their social life, school work, and standardized tests, they may realize that it isn’t as bad as it seems. “I think it’s just that now we’re starting to do the ACT […] and there’s a lot more pressure from college to keep up [with] our schoolwork so it’s just, like, a mix of a lot,” Valley said.

The general assumption from underclassmen is that junior year might as well be the end of the world. According to the class of 2019 seniors, it’s not. “Overall it was a pretty good year. Yes, it was challenging but if you just manage your time it’s really not that bad,” senior Buchanan Smith said.

When asked if he had any tips for this year’s juniors and all future juniors, Smith had a simple solution. “Just manage your time, don’t [procrastinate] but you really don’t need to worry about it too much,” Smith said.