By Simone Midgett, Features Editor
When upperclassmen tell you that junior year is by far the worst year of high school, we are not exaggerating. Imagine taking three AP courses and having an online sixth period on top of SGA, two after-school jobs, sports and other clubs – only to realize that isn’t enough in the eyes of some colleges.
You still have to find time to get volunteer hours and there is always going to be someone that did just one thing more that could set them apart from you – that one more thing that could get them into your dream college.
Something else that sets junior year apart from other years of high school is the beloved standardized tests: the SAT and the ACT.
These are two of the most mentally draining tests I have ever taken. The ACT consists of five sections: English, Math, Reading, Science and Writing. It is a 215-question long test that is three hours and 35 minutes long. That is 215 minutes of answering questions that we have been preparing for since freshman year.
Both of these tests are timed according to section, and I’m almost positive every other student sitting in the same room as I was while taking the ACT thought the same thing: How is it humanly possible to answer 75 questions in 45 minutes? At that rate, in order to finish, you must answer one question every 36 seconds.
The worst part about these tests is that they count for everything. They can be the deciding factor that a college considers when you apply. In fact, these two tests play a hefty role in determining your whole future.
Not to mention the hours upon hours you spend hunched over an SAT practice book trying to improve your score, even if it is just by 20 points.
Junior year also comes with touring colleges and beginning to plan the rest of our lives. Determining our future at 16 years old? I know, trust me, it’s as crazy as it sounds.
I’m sure I am not alone when I say this, I am not worried about what I am going to be doing when I am 25. I am worried about the realization that I have one year with the people who have been by my side since I can remember. I am worried about soaking in the last year of being a kid before the reality of being an adult sets in.
Don’t get me wrong, I am just as stressed as the next junior and reality is setting in that I need to actually figure out what I want to do with my life. But when it comes down to it, there is much more to our last two years in high school, like waiting for our anticipated senior pictures to hand out to those we hold close to our hearts, going to senior prom, attending my last football game as a high schooler, running down the lacrosse field one last time.
Alongside all of the struggles and tormenting hours of studying that come with junior year, there is the feeling of drive and determination that comes when you are in the middle of a race: You know the only way it will be over is if you make it to the finish line. You know that once you get to the last leg (or should I say senior year) it will all have been worth it.
One day it will be our turn to walk across the stage in ambivalence. Part of us won’t be able to contain our excitement to figure out what the future holds, but the other part of us will think of all the memories we have made together since elementary school.
We will think of the numerous hours we spent working on our homecoming float, the stop light they placed in the middle school cafeteria to keep us from being too loud, the famous sixth-grade kickball tournament and all of our other recollections from our time together.
But surely, we won’t be reminiscing on our junior year.
Junior Simone Midgett can be reached at midgettsa0827@daretolearn.org.
