Junior year: arguably the hardest year of high school, and for some, your life so far. A quick Google search about junior year could results in study videos, tips, complaints, rants and questions, all surrounding one year of school. How could one year boast so much stress? Is it really as hard as the media and rumors portray it?
In Michigan, juniors are spared little time following spring break. They have to taket hree consecutive state-required standardized tests—ACT WorkKeys, SAT and the MSTEP— and loads of coursework leave juniors overwhelmed. Same-day tests are no joke, yet somehow common this year. It’s hard to separate meaningful from busy work in the buckets of homework assigned.
CHS junior Claire Theiss has found no exceptions for this. She has a constant load of coursework from almost every class.
“It’s been difficult to balance my personal life with the amount of work I’ve been getting this year,” Theiss said. “I wish teachers would give us more of a break when they know we need it, during times like state testing.”
Theiss is involved in CET as the costumes crew head, and she is also a witness on CHS’s Mock Trial team. Extracurriculars often take precedence over her homework,keeping her at school all day.
“I sometimes have CET from 3:45 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Mock Trial from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., so I’m here from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” Theiss said. “I usually get home around 8:45 p.m., because I drive people to their houses. After that, I don’t have time for work because I’m just exhausted.”
Students shouldn’t be expected to give up hobbies or possible careers while having an excessive academic workload. This is the year that colleges and universities examine the most, including transcripts, extracurriculars, volunteer hours and more are finalized. Unnecessary assignments can cause students to lose sight of the activities that they love.
Emma Goblirsch, an Elite Dance Force dancer, finds that the pressure of excelling in extracurriculars and academics becomes almost unmanageable during junior year.
“I’m at the studio three days a week, and most of my weekends are at competitions,” Goblirsch said. “That doesn’t leave a lot of time for homework or spending time with friends. I feel like I constantly have to decide between doing well at competitions or doing my homework for the day.”
Even though the light at the end of the tunnel—the summer and senior year—offers some relief, it is easy to forget the good days ahead of us. Junior year is the hardest year of our lives.
