Every year of high school can be hard in its own way, but why does junior year seem to be the hardest? Is it just a coincidence that the junior year course selections consist of the more challenging courses? Is it just the 16-17 age and the attitude students have about school? What makes junior year so much harder and is it actually even more difficult?
“Yes, my junior year has definitely been a lot more challenging than past years because my class load is a lot harder. I’m taking anatomy and physiology and AP Lang which are college level courses so they require a lot more time and effort,” Sarah Ruisch ‘27 said.
A lot of the hard classes that students take at JHS are offered junior and senior year only due to prerequisites, and most students like to knock out a majority of their AP classes before senior year due to school to work or so they can have a light senior schedule for their last year of high school. Most prerequisite classes for these APs are offered sophomore year and the APs offered junior year are often more challenging.
“Junior year was difficult because you have a full schedule and some of your hardest classes that you have to keep up on and it’s all very draining to deal with. Senior year is so much better than junior year. I have four open periods for school-to-work so I have a lot less to deal with and most of my stress isn’t from school, it’s from applying to colleges and scholarships,” Macy Miller ‘27 said.
Junior year is also the year that most colleges look for when looking for grades, which puts a lot more stress on students than in sophomore or senior year, when grades aren’t as important for colleges when applying.
“Senior year is also just a lot more fun overall because you have things like senior sunrise, last dances and senior assassin,” Miller said.
Students don’t have any class bonding events or activities specifically for juniors, making junior year purely “school” and nothing other than homecoming week or prom to really look forward to. Having school events and activities is crucial for creating school culture and giving students motivation to get through the year, but juniors have little to be excited for and a lot to be stressed about, making junior school seem like the most stressful and the least fun year of high school.
“Junior year has been really difficult in trying to balance school work and other things. It’s hard to prioritize school work and still have a social life. I’m looking forward to senior year because I will have a lighter schedule,” Menae Tupy ‘27 said.
