Is it over?  Many students ask this question everyday as the school year heads to its end. As the weather warms up, the commitment to school cools down, and as a junior that is never good.

Junior year is the hardest and most important year of high school and the stress is almost unbearable. I can easily say junior year has been the most stressful year of my entire life.  To all the rising juniors and those who will one day soon be juniors, I say, get ready because you have a big storm coming.

Junior year barricaded me with work, which, combined with a job, sports and extracurriculars and a social life, caused  sleep deprivation and an unhealthy mental state. The one thing junior year has prepared me the most for would be erratic decision making. If you are sick, do you go to school and suffer throughout the day or do you stay at home and let your grades suffer for the next two weeks? If you have two projects due the next day, do you get your rest and go to sleep, or do you pull an all nighter and suffer from sleep deprivation? If you have a job, do you take on shifts to save money for college, or do you lose your bank to do your homework? This year has been full of stressful decision making and impossible time management, and it’s still not over!

A lot of junior year issues came from  stress and an overload of work and sleep deprivation, so I am truly glad it is coming to an end. With three weeks to go, the teachers are pushing out last minute assignments. Students are trying to get through the last couple of weeks without completely falling behind and seeing their grade drop. Everyone is ready for it to be over.