Everyone always says freshman year is the worst. In freshman year, you’re still finding your place in the school. You don’t fully know what’s happening or the school’s layout. And because you’re fresh out of middle school, every other grade sees you as a middle schooler.
But do other grades have it better?
Here are my ratings for all the high school grades:
Freshman year
The first and most important thing is to figure out who you are. Start figuring out your interests and what you like and don’t like. Get to digging and see the groundwork for stuff you might want to do later in high school and college. If you want to go to a good college, you have to keep good grades, take more challenging classes, and even start the process for the IB program.
Just be wary of the pitfalls of more challenging courses. Figure out what you can and can’t handle because it gets rough later, but know there is always someone to help you out when you get stuck: a teacher, an admin, or even a fellow student. It was one of the easier grades to be in, but pretty boring, so I give it a solid 6/10.
Sophomore year
Sophomore year is the filler year of the high school story arc. This year, you start getting into friend groups you will stick with. It’s filled with more course load compared to freshman year and is one of the more forgettable years because it’s a “filler.” If you learn to appreciate the filler, you will like this year. Do the same thing and follow the same steps as freshmen year, and you’ll do fine. It was fun and better than freshman year since you tend to chill out for the most part, earning itself a good 7.5/ 10.
Junior year
Junior year is honestly one of the worst years to be in. The course load is the absolute highest it’s ever been. You’ll be stressing about classes, SAT, etc. It is the testing year, and it’ll feel infinite. My advice is to survive till the end. If you pace yourself, I’m sure you can make it through.
I know this year sucks and might tempt you to give up, but you ABSOLUTELY CAN’T! Senior year is right around the corner, the light at the end of the tunnel. It might be the most painful thing you’ve experienced, but it doesn’t get worse than this, so push through and remember that pain is a mindset. This year is the worst, so it’ll get a juicy 4.3/10. It’s relatively low, but it could be worse.
Senior year
Now, drum roll for the best year to be a high schooler: senior year.
Senior year is THAT year. If you set yourself up well in the previous years, this will be the most uncomplicated and manageable school year. Typically, none of the classes you take this year will affect your graduation status since you finished most of them before, but you should still put in effort. Some colleges will still look at your information, so instead of quitting at that point, chill.
This is the year you’ll be with friends doing senior things, such as sleeping, hanging out with friends, and then nothing. You might get senioritis, an automatic part of senior year, but if you keep yourself entertained, it won’t be too bad. Just take this year as a respite, knowing that the future is coming, and you must prepare for that. This year has to be a 9/10, the best year of high school by far.
[Editor’s note: I heavily disagree with this rating. Senior year is a solid 6/10. Very overhyped.] [Other Editor’s note: I agree with the Editor’s note, but I would bring the rating down to a good 4/10.] [Adviser’s note: But these are the best years of your life! You’ll miss high school when– *ducks as editors throw things at her* Nevermind. You’re right. You won’t miss a whole lot of this.]
I hope this gives you more knowledge about high school life and encourages you to work hard and experience high school to the fullest.
