I am in a slump. A Sophomore slump to be exact. It’s the feeling of waiting for the future that you are not sure when it’ll come, and until it comes, you’re just pushing through with life.
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Routine after routine after routine. I wake up in the morning, go to a class, sit behind a desk, and do work. Then I get up, go to my job, sit behind a desk, and do work. At the end of the day, I end up back at my dorm, sit behind my desk, and do work. I feel like I’m constantly working towards this goal that I’m not really sure is possible.
The New York Times explored this topic of the Sophomore slump being a phenomenon because it was shown in studies that students in their second year of college felt that they were “not being energized by their classes or feeling at home on their campus.”
These feelings can stem from the pressure of having our lives put together by now. By Sophomore year, we’re supposed to declare a major if we want to graduate in time. It’s time to start looking for internships to gain experience. So many things are expected of us in so little time. And that concept is catching up to me.
Especially for someone like me who is still lost and trying to figure out what I want to do, I’m overwhelmed at thinking about all my different options. The reality is that I want to do so many things, but I just can’t.
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Molly A. Schaller, a University of Dayton professor who studies the second-year slump, sums it up in this quote, “We enter college with all of these dreams about what we’re going to be, and we have to put some of those to rest in the second year. Even if it was Mom and Dad’s dream, it feels like a loss.”
If you do feel like you’re in a Sophomore slump, the article has different remedies to cope with it. If you are not feeling your classes this semester, try to enroll in one class next semester that seems interesting to you. It’s a good way to experience something new and mix up your schedule a bit. Or join a club that encompasses a topic that you’ve always wanted to try. This way, you will be connected to that topic without being fully committed to it. Another suggestion is making new friends to have a more diverse social life by surrounding yourself with different people.
This is not meant to be a somber article that makes you want to give up, but if you do share these feelings, you’re not alone. There’s nothing abnormal about getting comfortable where you are. We are going to have this feeling and go through this period of stagnation.
As I am currently in this phase right now, I really can’t say that it will get better soon, but if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that the future is waiting for you. Yes, it may be a long road ahead, but that’s just more time to look at the view. This stagnant period is just a phase that will pass over. Until then, we just have to push through.
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