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Junior Year Stresses?
As a junior, I am facing a lot of stress. Along with a 5-6 AP classes, I'm in debate and a ton of volunteer organizations and honor societies. The extracurriculars are not that time-consuming other than debate, but I've been somewhat gloomy these days. I've heard a lot of horror stories about how Junior year is the most important year of high school and how one particular AP class is very hard to Ace. Competition also bothers me too, considering I have a decent GPA (5.5/6.0...equivalent to a 3.8 or a 3.9/4.0 GPA), but I always seem to feel incompetent. I've seen so many other people in my class that juggle with more AP's and more extracurriculars (with officer positions in them) and still manage to make all A's and in the top of their class (they also seem to be very happy, with awesome friend circles). When I look at them I always tell myself "that I can do the same, just try harder", but I think I'm reaching a breaking point. I feel like a loser for not keeping up with this competition and working twice as hard compared to other people, but still so behind. I want Junior year to be survivable, but I also want to be happy for once in high school. My outlook for this year is hopeful, but I am extremely scared due to all the College Entrance Tests, Ap's, and SAT's I'll have to take. Help? I'm really scattered and out of sorts right now
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Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category?
Maybe give some free advice about: School?
I am a great deal older than most of the advisers on this site, so my advice will be somewhat different from what you may have received and may continue to receive from others.
The U S Army has a slogan; “Be all you can be” of course it goes on to say in the Army. Let’s just look at the beginning of the phrase, what is it actually saying.
Be all YOU can be; the emphasis is on the word you, you as an individual. What do YOU want? What are YOUR goals? These are the areas you should be focusing on. It matters not what anyone else is doing for you are only seeing the surface. Do you know for sure that they are happy with their lives? Are they doing what they are doing to please someone else? As a volunteer firefighter all too often I see the results of these over achievers and the pain it eventually causes their families should they fail to achieve what they have set out for themselves.
It is my belief that a person should set goals for themselves. These goals should be just slightly out of reach so that they present a challenge. Then you make a plan to obtain your goals. Your plan is a road map and along the way there may be some detours or even side trips. This is perfectly acceptable as long as the end result does not change. If you can do this and not try to keep up with what others are doing I believe you will have a much more enjoyable High School experience and be accepted in to the Colleges of your choice.
High school and your teenage years are supposed to be both a serious and fun time of life. The serious part of course is your education. The fun part is the social experience, which is also a learning experience, which comes with being a teenager and is part of the High School experience. In your plan you need to balance both your educational side and your social side of life. Something like the debate team can be both social and educational depending on how you divide your time.
In short, do not worry what someone else is doing, do what is best for you. Besides being a firefighter I have also been an employer. When I hire someone what I look for is someone that has the educational qualifications I am looking for and the social skills I need to do the job I am offering. Now is the time to get both of those requirements and in College you will refine them.
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