Although each year of high school has its ups and downs, junior year is known to be the most stressful year. 

SATs, college applications, and advanced classes can be stressful for some if not all juniors.

“I think junior year can be really stressful because that’s the year when a lot of students will take on more challenging classes. Or even if they’re not in more challenging classes, then it might be a time where they’re starting to think more about their future, starting to work on bringing up grades so all of those things can be really stressful,” Counselor Morgan Gomez said. 

Oftentimes students find themselves stuck, whether it’s stuck on a math problem or something bigger. What they need to know is that they can always ask for help.

“Your teachers are here to help you, so if you are a student who’s in a situation where you’re in a tougher class or you’re trying to raise a grade, don’t wait to speak up. Reach out to your teacher, reach out to your school counselor, because that’s literally our job is to be here to help you,” Gomez said. 

If students haven’t thought much about their future, it’s good to get an idea of what they  may want to do after graduation. 

“You don’t have to know what you want to do right now, but I think the more that you can do this year to kind of start thinking about it and figuring out what you’re interested in the more that’s going to help you in the future and make your life less stressful,” Gomez said.

Even though juniors take lots of time to study and do work, it’s always good to take time to enjoy the school year. 

“I know that there’s a lot of big things for the future, but junior year is also a really fun year to just get involved and enjoy the year too,” Gomez said.