Fiona's Junior Year Survival Guide

As a survivor of junior year in high school, I feel it’s only my duty to aid those who have yet to undertake the challenge. So here goes…the do’s and don’ts of junior year.Let’s start with classes. Depending on your school, you may be able to choose more electives junior year. Your college advisor may advise you to choose difficult courses that “look good” on your transcript. While this is definitely important, I would suggest that you also choose courses you’re excited about taking. If know you hate English, maybe it’s not the greatest idea to sign up for AP Literature. This may seem like obvious advice, but you’d be surprised about how many kids choose courses without thinking about what they would like to be learning. While junior year is a definite crunch, and you should expect to have to do a lot of work in classes you’re not wild about, that doesn’t mean you should forget about all the academic fields you do love!The next big hurdle of junior year is testing. You will probably take the SAT or ACT for the first time. I’ve learned a few things through my experience with the SAT:1. There’s a definite distinction between understanding that it’s important to prepare for the test and stressing out every second about it. For example, you should be concerned if you scored really low on all the geometry problems on your PSAT and you’re hoping to be a math major in college. You can channel this concern into studying more geometry before the actual test. You should not worry about possible test-day scenarios in which your calculator breaks, you have a bad proctor, or you forget everything. While there are ways to prepare for the day itself to try to make sure these things don’t happen, once you get to the test you have to realize you’ve done all you can. When the test is in front of you, all you can do is relax and do your best.

2. Your score does not define you. As long as you are happy with the way you performed on the test, the way your score stacks up to others does not matter. Even if you aren’t happy with your score, it’s important to remember that you are a highly complex human with many different skills, many of which probably can’t be measured by the test.

3. The SAT is long. Longer than the PSAT, so don’t be surprised when they don’t let you leave after three hours. Bring a snack (or several if you get hungry every half hour, like me) and wear comfy clothing, since you’ll be sitting there for a while. Who says the pajamas-to-school look isn’t still hot?Next up on the roller coaster that is junior year is college touring. Three main points:1. Learn about the colleges before you go, and make your visit as expansive as possible (See if you can visit classes or speak with teachers.) This may keep you from ruling out a school because it rained during your tour.2. Try, for at least these few days, to not be embarrassed to be seen with your parents. On every college tour there are at least three kids who trudge along in the back of the tour trying to pretend they don’t know the parent with them. It’s pointless. Everyone knows you’re with a parent, because everyone is with a parent. And trust me, if you get embarrassed every time your parent speaks, you are guaranteed to feel embarrassed during college visits. So, please, for your own sake (and ours…seeing other sulky teens makes us feel more sulky) save your groans of “Mommm!” for when you get home.3. If you are able to, visit as many colleges as you can during junior year. Spring break is a great time. Trust me, you will thank yourself when school ends and you get to spend your summer watching reruns of Glee instead of trekking around in the heat.The last point I want to touch on is your social life and your sleep life. During junior year, it is likely you will have to choose between the two. Don’t let this decision get you thoroughly depressed (even though it is a depressing decision). It’s only temporary, and you can catch up on both your sleeping and your social life during summer. It just feels that much better when you get to (I would know). Good luck and enjoy this summer. It might be your last calm before the storm.Fiona Lowenstein is no longer a junior! She is a Girls Leadership Institute alumna and weekly guest blogger. Read more of her work here.