Sophomore Year: What’s Good, What’s Bad, And How Can Teachers Help by: Ryan Beaver

Sophomore year has been a vastly different experience than freshman year for me. In terms of negatives, rigor, pressure, and homework have all increased. But there are positives as well. The social aspect has really picked up as has the amount of freedom that students are given. I have found that with the increased workload, teachers give students more freedom.

NCTE has been a great experience for me. It has changed my work ethic in school. I now have a greater drive to succeed. I have been working harder and caring more about my grades more than I ever have before. This is a great because before, I still had really good grades but I didn’t really appreciate them. Now I want to improve on freshman year and build on my previous success. NCTE has shown me how fun public speaking is so I have really started to love English and any other classes that have speaking projects. I have learned to appreciate more in school.

My biggest concern right now is my GPA. I have been working to get in to a great college like Cornell University but schools like this require a very high GPA. As of now, I have a good GPA but not one high enough to get accepted at a school of this caliber. This has been a big cause of stress for me as of late. Sophomore year is crazy important for college, so my goals are high. I feel like this is a hard problem for teachers to help with, but it is possible. I feel like the best way too help with this issue is to provide support. To have a teacher that is willing to work with me, make sure I know when the due dates are, and show me ways to study would be a tremendous advantage. Most of the time when I get bad grades it is because I was absent and missed school. In this case, teachers could help by collaborating with the students on time to work one on one to get in a better state.

Sophomore year, while different from previous years, is off to a good start. While it is harder than other years, I am enjoying the social aspect very much and I am working hard to improve my grades even more. Setting goals is now a big part of my school career and I am working hard to meet them. I cannot wait to continue this learning in the future.