{"id":416,"date":"2010-12-02T17:36:45","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T17:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=416"},"modified":"2014-04-07T07:16:46","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T12:16:46","slug":"the-year-of-academics-stress-and-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=416","title":{"rendered":"The Year of Academics, Stress and Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christina Chipman<\/em><\/p>\n

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As junior year progresses, so does the responsibilities and workload. Photo by: Matthew Libersky<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Being a junior in high school entails more than abundant amounts of homework and responsibility. It is a milestone for many students, as reality is often presented with expectations, college and following one\u2019s internal compass.<\/p>\n


\nTwo years down, two more years to go. As the countdown begins to senior year, many juniors are plagued with the obstacles this year presents.\u00a0 Classes seem defeating, responsibilities are overbearing, and preparations for the future are beginning to take hold. And it does not seem to get easier. As junior year begins to unfold its uncertainties, the detrimental toll is weighing down on Gaby Ramirez\u2019s shoulders. Ramirez has found this year to be \u201cextremely challenging with the sports I am involved with and the homework.\u201d Health careers, pre-calculus, and chemistry are merely just the beginning of Ramirez\u2019s workload, as \u201ccross country, track, and too many clubs\u201d bide Ramirez\u2019s time. Ramirez describes, \u201c Homework, grades, sports, work, family, and friends are all thrown at you at once.\u201d Through the seemingly impossible endeavors, Ramirez\u2019s has a mindset for the future. Ramirez is unsure of where she will attending college but becoming an \u201cOBGYN or a physician\u2019s assistant\u201d is a long term goal that guides Ramirez through class scheduling and university visits.
\nRamirez is not the only upperclassman experiencing the rigorous intensity of academics and extra-curricular activities. Immersed in academic classes to prepare her for post-secondary education and college preparatory exams, Kendall Cooper is \u201coverwhelmed with all that I need to get done, but I enjoy the challenges thrown at me!\u201d Cooper, outside of the classroom setting, is a member of Crimson Connection,\u00a0 FTA,\u00a0 S.E.E.D. Club and is also a varsity cheerleader. Despite the difficulty of the classes she is taking and the numerous activities she is involved with, Cooper remains optimistic. She explains, \u201c They [teachers] throw a lot at you but you have to take it one step at a time.\u201d With only one step left until senior year, Cooper is ready for the future, and whatever it may bring. She states, \u201c I plan on taking the SAT\u2019s and the ACT\u2019s in the spring so I have more time to prepare.\u201d After the \u201clast step\u201d in high school, Cooper plans to attend \u201cBall State University and major in interior design or elementary education.\u201d
\nWith ambitions in mind, Kelly Bryant has taken the steps in the right direction in preparing for her future. Bryant states, \u201cThe pressure and workload is definitely harder this year. On top of harder courses, the pressure of already preparing so much for college is overwhelming. We have so many important decisions to make for our future and I\u2019m not quite ready for all of it.\u201d Bryant, however, is not alone. Patrick Felke\u2019s workload consisting of \u201cdifficult honors\u201d classes is time consuming, but Felke\u2019s ambitions to attend Notre Dame, Butler, or Indiana University require exemplary grades. Being a junior in high school can be defeating, but also rewarding. Bryant advises, \u201c Work hard now, and it will all pay off later.\u201d Aubrie Craft, who is taking on the challenges of this year with a light heart and positive attitude describes, \u201c Homework is piled everyday. Things are getting harder, but it\u2019s time to prepare ourselves for college level.\u201d
\nAs the 2010-2011 school year progresses, so does the difficulty of the courses and the stresses of day to day life. Junior year, however, is a year that defines the future, and what it has to hold. Despite the challenging curriculum, the juniors are bestowing themselves with a year of memories and learning that will carry with them throughout their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christina Chipman Being a junior in high school entails more than abundant amounts of homework and responsibility. It is a milestone for many students, as reality is often presented with expectations, college and following one\u2019s internal compass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature","tag-november2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":506,"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}