Whenever I think of Junior year, whether it be high school or college, I always think it is the beginning of the end. In my experience, Junior year for both means looking at colleges to apply to since I need to go to grad school. With starting Junior year in the fall I have similar feelings as high school, and I also have different ones.
High school
Going into Junior year of high school I felt like I was finally starting to become a young adult. I got my license and first car, I got my first job, and my love life started to pick up (finally). Since there were so many changes like that happening it made me feel timid and scared, plus I realized I was halfway through high school so I was two years away from graduating which felt scary, but exciting. Up until that point I had many experiences robbed by the pandemic and I was finally ready to have a normal high school year and get the true experience. I knew I had to start looking into colleges and figure out what I wanted to do with my life, such as trying to pick a major and do research to see if it fits me. Also, I was told that Junior year of high school was the hardest year of high school, and I decided to load my schedule with a lot of college classes that were notoriously challenging, so I was nervous to start that school year because I didn’t know how I was going to handle it all.
College
In the fall I will start my Junior year of college and I again, am very nervous. All of the college courses I took in high school made me considered a sophomore right when I got to college, so in a way, I feel behind because this is my first year at college and it is very transitional and now I have to think about grad school. I am doing so much to make sure in the shorter amount of time I have to have a decent application, especially because the program I want to get into for school psychology is very competitive so I need a compelling resume. I thankfully have a decent schedule for the fall semester, at least that is what it looks like on paper so I feel confident in that aspect. At the same time, this is a bittersweet point in my life because this summer will be the last time I am working at my first and only job I had since I was that 16-year-old girl, but every chapter needs to close at some point, and the fast food job chapter will be closing soon. Most of all, I am very excited to pursue the future that I want to create for myself.