Freshman year presents a lot of obstacles no doubt, but sophomore year has its fair share of battles as well. It’s hard being the new kids on the block. It is also hard being the not-so-new kids on the block.
The Sophomore Slump is different for everyone. And even though social media can fool you, a lot of people go through experience. It could be about academics, friends, boyfriends, the future, or really anything. But everyone experiences it to some degree. Some people experience little things that are just bumps in the road, where others face strong barriers that seem impossible to overcome. Let it be known that the Sophomore Slump is beatable. We are going to come out the other side as strong, confident juniors. We can survive the Sophomore Slump!
It is definitely scary to see yourself facing difficult situations. We all want to gain a sense of control of our lives and the Sophomore Slump takes away some of that control. We feel lost, confused, maybe even helpless and are searching for a way out. Sometimes there isn’t a fast way out or an easy solution. We may have to ride this thing out and see what happens at the end.
As I sit here, trying to spit out the words to describe my sophomore slump, I have a hard time articulating my thoughts into words. It could be that my school work seems one hundred times harder this year than it was last year, and I am in a constant state of disbelief with the amount of work I am asked to achieve. It could be that I feel like I have spread myself too thin; I am a part of so many things this year that I feel passionate about but I just don’t have time for all of them. It could be that after returning from summer and starting new classes, I am realizing friendships are changing, rearranging and disappearing.
It is always difficult to step back and look at the situation from an outside perspective. Because to us, reality is relative. Something may seem so bad, but if you look at it from another angle it may not be so terrible. The Sophomore Slump is no different. We convince ourselves that it is so bad that it will never get better. We ask ourselves how we could be so happy last year and so unhappy now. But we have to realize we can be happy. The Sophomore Slump is called the Sophomore Slump because it happens when you are a sophomore! We won’t be sophomores forever and we won’t be stuck in this rut forever. I love Teddy Roosevelt’s saying “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” It’s so true. To get to the good stuff we got to go through some not so good stuff, and the Sophomore Slump just happens to be one of our stops on our way up.
We can do this ND, we can surive the Sophomore Slump!
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