Juniors in high school are faced with treacherous exams, late night study sessions, crucial sport performances, and anything else that could get them into their dream schools or programs. Junior year is the hardest year of high school because of the critical work that has to be done to prepare for becoming an adult, especially getting into college. Lots of pressure is placed upon a junior student’s shoulders, but their hard work is what paves them to learning how to be successful individuals.
Academically, juniors are faced with a significant amount of challenges. Collegeboard.org claims that “a solid academic record in your junior year is likely to carry more importance with an admission committee [than freshman or sophomore year].” On top of making sure they remain on top of their course work to receive solid grades, with AP exams, SATs, and ACTs juniors rarely get a break from studying and preparing. The SAT and ACT, that are typically taken during junior year, are important tests that are used during the college application process. These tests are extremely crucial to colleges for admittance into their school. AP classes and exams are also very important to the college application process because depending on the score of an exam, student’s can earn college credits and save thousands of dollars on expensive college classes.
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Whether or not a junior wants to compete in college or not, junior year is incredibly important for student athletes. Athletes are no longer underclassmen who may not be expected to contribute in large aspects to their team. However, now as upperclassmen, juniors are expected to step up for their team by being leaders, role models, and as contributors to the team’s performance. For juniors who want to compete in college, the recruitment process starts junior year. The program, Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) describes junior year as the most important year for recruiting. They claim, “Junior year is a pivotal time for athletes looking to play college sports.” During this time, juniors are expected to reach out to college coaches, go on college visits, and work as hard as they possibly can to become more athletically attractive to their dream schools earlier than academic or other recruits.
Socially, juniors in high school have to balance lots of extracurricular activities and hobbies as they possibly can. In addition, juniors may feel social pressures that have to do with their future in order to make their application or resumes more distinguished. They may also feel pressured to spend as much time as they can with their family and friends since some may be leaving for college shortly. In order to save for their future, juniors may need to take on jobs with lots of hours. Some may claim that freshman or senior year is the hardest year socially because of the changes happening during the year, but the pressures that juniors are faced with are more challenging because of its abundance.
Although junior year is the hardest, it paves the minds of future nurses, lawyers, electricians, and engineers to become more hardworking and focussed in the real world. Junior year teaches students how much they are truly capable of, even if it took an exhausting road to get there.
