It’s only been three or so months, but I can tell you one thing for sure so far: sophomore year is so not freshman year. Sophomore slump, ladies and gentlemen, is as real as it gets. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, sophomore slump refers to an instance in which a second effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort. So, in the case of college, to be blunt, sophomore year pretty much is the pits.
Pity the sophomore. No, really, you should pity us. We were once notable as freshmen, fresh onto the college scene, but now no one seems to care that we’re back on campus. Unlike freshmen, we receive fewer warnings about the do’s and don’ts of college life and are instead just expected to know how things work. Large, more difficult lecture classes have replaced fairly easy first-year seminars, which makes us doubt that major in economics or biology. We’re not high enough up the social totem pole to do more advanced things like join a research team or lead student clubs, and yet we lack the innocence and high energy that made us so unique our freshman year. It seems that with the newness of college fading and our dwindling image socially, discontent sets in.
Big decisions loom sophomore year: what are you going to major in and, by extension, do with your life? Are you planning on studying abroad? Living off campus? Finding an internship? The list goes on and on. Angst about committing to one path, and rejecting others, can cast a cloud over the second year. Sophomore year is reality slapping us in the face. The façade of the carefree times freshman year has suddenly been overcast by more work, more decisions, and as a direct result, more despair.
So what are we to do? We certainly cannot just skip a grade or simply close our eyes and hope sophomore year will go by quickly. We must embrace it. Embrace the awkward year that is sophomore year or, as my roommate refers to it, “the endless pregame” (since it seems we never have plans anymore). We’re expected to be familiar with campus, know our major, start searching for internships or career paths, have a social crowd, be involved on campus, and continue to make positive progress over the next year. Say what? When is the part where we simply act ourselves, just normal nineteen and twenty year olds? My biggest advice for tackling sophomore slump is to be yourself and find what makes you happy, whether that be joining a new club, searching for a more appealing major, making new friends, or even just talking it out to someone who cares.
College is the time to continue making progress in our young adult lives. Nothing is permanent. You can change your major a hundred times, and your friends from freshman year may not be your soulmates. But who cares? In the end, you will find what works for you and you will know what makes you happy. There will be many opportunities to make changes and to find new paths to follow. If you find yourself down and feeling out of place, find someone to talk to. The sophomore slump doesn’t have to label your second year in college. Break the stereotype; make your year your own.
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