As Chloe finds out in The Year of Living Awkwardly, sophomore year is neither here nor there. You’re not an upperclassman; you’re no longer a lowly freshman. College is on the horizon, but junior high/middle school is still a vivid (and horrible) memory. How to survive this in-between time? Here are a few tips.
- Luxuriate in your expertise. It was only last year that you couldn’t find the bathroom, your fingers shook as you attempted to unlock your locker, and you got so lost on your way to algebra class, you wound up in the gym. Isn’t it glorious that now you’re so familiar with the layout of the school, you can navigate the halls without even looking up from your phone?
- Be nice to the young’uns. It’s tempting to ignore them or even taunt them (look at them—they were trying to get to algebra and they wound up in the gym!!), but don’t. You were once as clueless and scared as they are. Remember the relief you felt when a kindly sophomore said hi to you in the hall? Be that kindly sophomore.
- If you have a passion, follow it. In the old days, colleges wanted well-rounded applicants. Now many of them want specialists. If you’re already positive you want to be a politician, and you’re spending 20 hours a week participating in debate club and volunteering for a campaign, great! Don’t feel that you need to arbitrarily tack on field hockey or chorus in an attempt to prove you’re a Renaissance woman.
- If you don’t have a passion, don’t worry. This is a good year to try out some extracurriculars and see what sticks. Pick a few that genuinely appeal to you, and go for them—don’t worry if the rest of the world considers them dorky. Colleges won’t.
- Read. Read novels, read the news, read magazines (not the ones that make you feel bad about yourself). It’s a painless way to prep for the SAT, and more importantly, it gives you a break from the drama of your own everyday life.
- Take the PSAT, but don’t panic about it.
- Work on getting your license, but don’t panic about that, either.
- Just in general, try not to panic. Easier said than done, right?
- Go easy on yourself. It’s OK if you don’t have every single aspect of your identity ironed out, or if you find yourself talking in entirely different voices with different groups of friends, or if you’re not even sure you like your old friends anymore. Sophomore year is about trying stuff, experimenting, and feeling awkward most of the time.
- Enjoy the in-betweenness. Instead of wishing time would pass more quickly so you can get your license/be an upperclassman/finish high school/etc., try to luxuriate in this charmingly odd year.
Guest post by Emma Chastain, author of The Year of Living Awkwardly.
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What was the best advice you received in high school?
Synopsis
High school student Chloe Snow chronicles another year in her life (sophomore year) as she navigates the highs and lows of family, friendship, school, and love in her diary.
About the Author
Emma Chastain is a graduate of Barnard College and the creative writing MFA pro-gram at Boston University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children. Find her on Twitter @emmachastain.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Sophia Rose says
The story sounds great and will probably resonate with tons of people. As the other’s said, good advice, there.
I think what I learned during this time was discovering the importance of being myself and not trying to be all things to all people.
Crystal says
Great lessons. I agree high school was an important time for learning to be me.
Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer says
Fantastic advice. Yep, not a period in my life I want to repeat. LOL
Crystal says
Same here, lol. I learned important lessons, but they came with their own hardships!
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight says
This is great advice! Sophomore year was actually a great one for me, so I remember it fondly. I ended up discovering/following a passion for sign language and performing, and it was a lot of fun. Sounds like a cute book!
Crystal says
That’s great to hear. Sign language would be great to learn. First, I need to brush up on Chinese though!