Rumor has it that in the second year of high school comes an unfortunate phenomenon called the “sophomore slump.” This can happen any time throughout the tenth year of high school, but becomes most noticeable around the end of the first semester and start of second. During a slump people let their grades slip and pile up missing assignments, leading to grades that don’t reflect students’ ability and damaging transcripts.
It’s now October, and many tenth graders are worrying about falling into this trap and watching one missing assignment turn into ten. “I feel like it’s starting and like you’ll be fighting against it the course of the entire year and the actual slump part is when you start giving up,” said Calixta Marie, a sophomore.
Losing motivation often happens every year throughout high school. The reason sophomore year can be a particularly bad one is because it tends to be when students begin taking more advanced classes. At CSArts, you can’t take AP classes until your sophomore year and this causes people to take harder classes without understanding the workload. Sometimes what people think they can handle doesn’t end up aligning with what they actually can.
Some people argue that junior year is harder because of SATs and CASP testing. However, by junior year students have a better grasp on their capabilities and what classes they should and shouldn’t take. “Sophomore year was a terrible terrible year. Mostly academically. They go really easy freshman year, and in sophomore year they just have you do a bunch of work,” said senior Leia Kline. The increased expectations of sophomore year add to its difficulty, as well as beginning to get tired of the school routine. Sophomore slump is definitely intimidating, but focusing on your work and time management will ensure that grades will stay high.
Move Over, Shakespeare!