With junior year coming to an end, I can easily say it has been the most challenging school year for me so far. On top of it being the year with arguably the hardest classes, there are also many extracurricular activities you should be doing and college-related things to think about. This article will discuss everything I wish I knew before junior year—both general information and specific to East Rockaway.
Classes
Many people say junior year is the year to take every single AP/college class and that you have to get perfect grades on everything. While I definitely stressed myself out with this mindset, you do not have to! Personally, I took 4 APs—AP Environmental Science, AP United States History, AP Research, and AP Lang. This was a big challenge for me, and I would only recommend it if you are very dedicated. Overall, it was a learning and rewarding experience. However, do not feel pressured to take a lot of APs. It may be a good year to try one or two if you haven’t before.
Another option that I highly recommend is taking college classes. This year, all of my non-APs were college credits—Spanish 4DE, SUPA Psychology, SUPA Personal Finance, and Precalculus DE. College classes are a great idea, and it’s amazing that East Rockaway offers so many. We have classes through Syracuse University (SUPA) and dual enrollment classes through several colleges as well. Many also prefer these to APs because you just need to pass the class for credit, not a specific AP test. Getting a few college credits in high school, whether it’s through APs or dual enrollment classes, is really smart because it can get some classes out of your way before you’re even in college. Every college is a little different with accepting credits, but you can save a lot of money and time by choosing to get some credits now.
I would be able to talk about all of my classes in detail, but one of my favorite classes of all time was SUPA Psychology. This class, taught by Mrs. Pietrantonio, genuinely taught me so much, but in such a fun and interesting way. She teaches in a way that captures the class and makes everyone ask questions and become so interested in the subject. This helps everyone get good grades, but also become actually curious about psychology and how the human brain works.
It is also crucial to make sure you know how to study. These skills will not only help you this year, but building them now will help you be prepared for the workload in college. I have another article about my specific favorite studying methods in detail.
Extracurricular Activities
Junior year is also an extremely important time to make sure you’re in a few extracurricular activities, or even taking on leadership roles if you’ve been in some organizations for a few years now. Our school is small, but we offer a really wide variety of clubs, sports, and other opportunities that ensure there is something for everyone. Don’t stress out trying to join every single club or sport—stick to a few and dedicate yourself to them.
Colleges want to make sure you not only have good grades, but are also a well-rounded student. Joining some of these extracurricular activities and trying to gain leadership positions will show them that. If you have an idea of what you may want to study in college, you can try to align your extracurriculars with it to show colleges that you’re dedicated and have already started learning about your major.
College
Colleges typically have most of their opportunities for touring in the fall and spring. The fall of junior year is a great time to start looking at colleges if you haven’t already, which is what I personally did. It gave me enough time to calmly see each school rather than trying to cram in visits and research toward the end of the year.
Some people may think you should only look at schools that you think you’ll like, but I would highly recommend going to a wide variety of schools. Seeing all types of schools will give you an idea of what you like or don’t like and help you narrow down some choices.
I’m very grateful to have gone to a lot of colleges with my parents. I recommend going with your parents because they should also be curious and ask questions. If this may not be an option for you, I would still suggest going on any of the college field trips that our school’s guidance department offers. This year, I visited Mercy University, Fordham University, and Long Island University.
Visiting so many different campuses helped me decide what I was looking for in a college. You may not even realize how important a school’s size, campus life, class sizes, location, etc., are until you start seeing it in person. Now, at the end of junior year, I have a few top choices that I feel excited to apply to and confident that I like.
Conclusion
Overall, junior year can seem very intimidating, but being prepared can make it such a rewarding experience. Between classes, extracurriculars, and college stress, there is a lot to balance, but stay on track and organized and you can do it! Take advantage of all of the amazing opportunities East Rockaway offers, and do your best. You’ve got this!
