It’s no secret that your freshman year of college is without a doubt the easiest year of college. It’s a fun time where you’re constantly meeting new people, learning more about your school (and yourself), and getting used to college life in general.
We all know sophomore year is kind of like an extension of freshman year—with the exception of your living situation. Most of us are still taking only GE’s, lower division classes, and prerequisites for our majors. The workload still isn’t that heavy (in most classes) and you can sometimes find yourself with a lot of free time on your hands.
Sophomore year is filled with fun, and my advice for anyone in their second year is to use your free time to explore San Diego and everything the city has to offer. It is, after all, America’s Finest City. I found my favorite coffee shops, restaurants, and “secret” places around the city by exploring during free time my sophomore year.
But once you hit junior year, a lot of things change. It’s most likely that you’re officially and upper division student in your major and taking some pretty important classes. The workload increases a lot in comparison to sophomore year, and you find yourself with more deadlines to be aware of, and too many hours per week are spent in the library. When the weekend hits, you want to be able to go out to a party and destress from your week, but the second it hits 9pm on a Saturday night, you either pass out or try to get some more work done.
Don’t let your sudden busyness stop you from having a good time. One of the most important things about school is to take a break from it all when it just becomes too much to handle. Stress happens regardless of what year of school you’re in, but it definitely increases as you move up from freshman year to senior year.
Regardless of your academic standing, everybody should make sure to soak up their college years because they pass by quicker than expexcted!