In a recent survey of 200 students, 60 percent stated that junior year is the hardest year of high school. Junior Laura Reed is one of these students.
“My ninth grade year, I really didn’t have any homework and everything was really easy,” Reed said. “In tenth grade, I started doing more extracurriculars, but the only hard class I had was chemistry.”
Reed is a member of the drama club. She is currently involved in the production of “A Monster Calls.”
“Drama is probably my biggest commitment because I practice every day for that during the shows. And then outside of practice, you have to take time to memorize your lines,” Reed said.
Reed has acted in every drama club production since her freshman year. This year, she took on the extra responsibility of becoming a mentor for Altoona Community Theatre’s production of “Annie” as a part of the “Penguin Project” initiative.
“Doing more theater stuff this year was fun, but it took a lot of time out of my schedule,” Reed said.
Reed, alongside her time spent in theatre, is a member of the cheerleading squad. She has been a cheerleader for 8 years, even traveling to London earlier this year as a member of the All-American team.
“With cheer, you don’t just have football games. You obviously have to practice too, and with drama that can get pretty stressful,” Reed said.
Reed is an honors and Advanced Placement (AP) student. She has been taking honors-level courses since her freshman year.
“I always try to do the homework as soon as it’s assigned,” Reed said. “Sometimes, like at drama, if I have extra time I’ll do homework there.”
Reed received on the first day of school, what she claimed to be, a “wake-up call.”
“The first day of school, I got a lot of homework and was just thinking that this doesn’t usually happen,” Reed said. “I had four hours worth of work, and it hit me that this is how much work I’m going to have every day and it was scary.”
According to Reed, rigorous coursework isn’t always easy to keep up with every day.
“Sometimes I push it off until as late as possible, but I do try my best,” Reed said.
Junior year is when students have the opportunity to start taking more (AP) classes than in their sophomore or freshman years. This year, Reed chose to take the AP European history class.
“[AP Euro] is the first AP class I’ve ever taken,” Reed said. “It’s a new experience for me, and it’s a lot different than honors American history or civics.”
AP is a program offered by the College Board organization that allows high school students to take college-level coursework. The College Board also offers the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), which many juniors prepare to take.
“I’m studying for the SAT over the weekends sometimes and am taking the PSAT. That’s new for me because I’ve never had to study for a big test like that before,” Reed said.
As students get older, some like to look for work in order to make money in addition to an education. Jobs are often taken on during junior year, since many employers begin to hire at age 16.
“[Having a job] definitely showed me what college is gonna be like since you have all your classes and you have homework on top of those classes, but you also have to get a job to pay for college,” Reed said.
Between a job, extracurriculars and academics, Reed finds it difficult to maintain a sense of self and believes it to be the same case for other students in her class.
“Even if it’s less responsible when there’s a choice between doing homework and hanging out with my friends, I’ll pick hanging out with friends,” Reed said. “Any chance I can get to spend time with my friends I take, even though it’s probably not the best decision.”
According to Reed, this school year is less enjoyable than her previous years of high school.
“School feels more difficult now, but also with getting ready for college and the stress of friends— it’s a lot,” Reed said.
For students who wish to be in a variety of extracurricular activities and still maintain a strong academic standing, Reed believes being in a healthy mental state is imperative.
“Don’t procrastinate doing your work,” Reed said. “Give yourself time to take a break and have a mental break, also take lots of naps. That’s what I do.”
