What I’ve Learned Junior Year

One thing people don’t talk about enough is the formative experience that is junior year. It seems like everything comes at you during junior year. It’s the time when you have to seriously start thinking about college, and the AP classes begin to pile up. There’s also Junior Ring, which can be stressful in its own right (at least for me). It has other moments of fun like prom or pep rallies where we can see the sisterhood at its best. Junior year has a lot of different components that make it one of the hardest years of high school, but also one of the most fun. However, in all of the chaos, junior year has taught me many things. During this year, I’ve effectively learned…

• How to write a Q1 for AP Lang – An unforgettable experience. So many outlines. 

• That you should never invade Russia in the winter – Thanks Mrs. Kearney! APUSH was probably one of my favorite classes in junior year, and I learned so much about history that I never expected!

• How a collage piece can take over your life – Collage is hard! It’s a very rewarding process but it takes forever (at least when I do it). It did turn out to be one of my favorite pieces I’ve ever made, but lots of sleep was lost over it. 

• That Sage fries are the ultimate comfort food – they just might have healing powers.

• How to hit the curb while turning on MacDill – It’s really hard, okay? There’s something about that turn that I just cannot do. 

• How to UberEats to the front desk- I led a Rose Project at school this year and that meant Uber Eats-ing lunch every day. I definitely recommend Taco Dirty after a long day of service! 

• How to cross the bridge 6 times in one day – This is just the life of an art student. 

• How to effectively annoy the Achona staff- This is totally all jokes. Even though we jokingly bicker, I really love my Achona staff and I am so grateful for all of them (especially our seniors!)

• How to run an obnoxious Vice President campaign – just a tip: maybe don’t give out things that make noise. I gave out  rubber ducks for my campaign, which was really cute, but there was also a lot of squeaking. 

• That the booths in the 3rd floor commons are the best place to take a nap – the 3rd floor commons are (in my opinion) the best commons to spend free time in. For every late-start morning, you can spend time in a comfy little private booth. 

• How to not trip at Junior Ring – I don’t know if this is something I learned or more of just luck, but either way I’m grateful. Junior Ring is so fun and definitely one of my favorite parts of the year.

From August to May, I’ve learned these things and many other lessons that I can apply in the future. As junior year comes to a close, I look forward to senior year. There’s college applications, dances, the slounge, and many other senior experiences that I’ve heard about. I can’t wait to see what I learn next year!