3 min read
“Feeling Behind In Life As A High School Junior?”
Introduction
Your Junior year of high school is arguably your most important year of high school. Although you’ll probably be told that every year matters the same (which, when you think about it, is true), when in retrospect, it is the most important.
I like to think that a class’s significance is measured based on a scale measuring the level of work and assessments you’ll take during that year.
And that’s exactly why Junior year tends to be considered ‘more important’ than other years. Junior year is the year you take the SAT (or ACT), ask for recommendation letters (ideally), plan for the colleges you want to sign up for, decide on a major (if you haven’t already), started planning for your college essay, and occupy yourself with loads of extracurricular activities, make yourself comfortable with teachers, get good grades, and leave everything else on the side.
That’s what you’re expected of. You’re expected to do all of this, end up in a good college that will make you seem like a shiny, out-of-the-ordinary candidate for the job you want. All of these are considered as prerequisites.
It’s normal to feel behind. It’s normal to feel like you haven’t accomplished enough, and that in reality, it’s you that’s behind the pack.
Why Do You Think This Way?
When asking yourself this question, you -more importantly- need to ask yourself why this thought even stumbled upon you at all.
Do you have below-average grades (or grades lower than those of last year)? Are you unhappy? Do you feel ashamed, and compare yourself to others that have achieved the status and level of life that you’re searching for?
That’s completely fine.
To compare is also to be human. We all naturally make comparisons, just like we make mistakes (unless you’re Homelander), aren’t perfect, have emotions, and desire satisfaction and completeness. All of that is given, and all of that is to be expected of.
Where Should You Be?
If you’re reading this, and are asking yourself this question, you probably are overthinking things more than you should.
If you don’t know if college suits you, figure that out first. Way too many people jump to conclusions, not knowing if college is for them, for the career they want, and for the ultimate goal they wish to achieve at some point in their lives.
Next, are you in a decent position now? Sure, maybe your grades aren’t all As, or maybe you have poor teachers, or maybe school just doesn’t feel the same as it did last year; or maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t feel as enjoyable as it used to.
Again, all of that is fine and to-be-expected.
But, you should never, never, ever, take things farther than they need to. Your ultimate goal by the end of high school should be these:
- know the career path you want to take
- have found a stable side-income (of some sort) to support you if you go to college, or have some other outside passion that requires some form of money
- For example, if you want to maybe start selling sweaters or necklaces, or re-sell products, find some source of income to support it.
- Some examples of side-income include a physical in-person side job (cashier, coach, you name it), or digital source of side income that might not be entirely that consistent, but generates you some revenue that is stable enough to keep you going
Where Should You Be? (cont.)
Ok, now that we mentioned some side-details, let’s actually answer the question directly. Where should you be, as a Junior in high school?
Starting The Year
By this point, you probably still are a nobody. You haven’t done anything college-related that’s significant enough to list up besides visiting a few colleges, or even participating in an internship. In which case, either or, nice!
But besides that, there’s really nothing else to list. Of course, good grades and qualifications are important here as well – but above everything, start the year confidently.
Ending The Year
Ending off the year, you need to have one of two checklists. They depend on one critical principle: are you going to college?
If you do plan on going to college:
- Maintain strong grades, aiming for the highest GPA possible (given)
- Enroll in Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or dual-enrollment courses to strengthen your transcript and potentially earn college credits.
- Prepare for and take the SAT or ACT exams. Consider taking them more than once to improve scores.
- Engage in extracurricular activities that align with your interests. Leadership roles or founding a club usually are really attractive.
- Start researching colleges and universities to create a preliminary list of schools that match your academic and social preferences.
- Visit college campuses, if possible, or attend virtual tours and information sessions.
- Build relationships with teachers and counselors who can write strong, personalized letters of recommendation.
- Begin searching for scholarships early. There are many opportunities, including those based on merit, need, hobbies, or community service.
- Understand the basics of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and CSS Profile, required by many colleges for financial aid.
- Start brainstorming and drafting college essays, especially the Common App essay if applicable.
If you don’t plan on going to college, and plan on jumping straight for a career (not a part-time job):
- Research the career. This is step 1. Are you 100% sure this is the right career for you?
- Identify the skills necessary for your desired career and begin developing them through coursework, online resources, or literally anything else.
- Gain practical experience through internships, part-time jobs, or apprenticeships relevant to your career interest.
- Learn how LinkedIn works, and gradually comfortize yourself with talking to strangers online (I know that sounds bad, but in the future, talking to strangers and making them your friends will grow your network by 10x)
- Develop soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability, which are valuable in any career.
“Star” Images – Unsplash.com
Summarizing
No, you probably shouldn’t feel behind. Maybe you haven’t exactly researched any colleges, besides joking about how your plan is to attend Harvard; but even then, you shouldn’t feel like you haven’t done enough.
More than anything, you are just a Junior in high school. There is still so much life left to live, and you probably are thinking about everything, just a little too much.
These processes (signing up to college, deciding on a university, finding a career path, anything at all) take time to register, and aren’t that fast in terms of its completion. You can’t be expected to take the role of an adult when a majority of you aren’t even 18 years old.
That being said, I’m not saying to go home every day, forget everything, and start playing video games until 1 AM. No, please don’t do that.
Instead, I’m saying that if you’re doing well in school, are on top of everything, are researching any potential college opportunities (if any), and are occupying yourself with regular activities day and night, even when school isn’t in session; then there’s nothing to worry about. You definitely do have something to be worried about if you have too much time on your hands; because then that means that you aren’t doing enough.
But, if you have no time at all, or just enough time to squeeze in activities that bring you joy, then you shouldn’t feel ashamed at all.
Conclusion
High School is about enjoyment, about studying, and about finding the person you want to become 10 years from now. Take that action, find the person you want to become, and you’ll be completely fine.
