Junior year, notorious for causing fatigue, mental break- downs, and a reliance on caffeine, is an affliction that cannot be avoided by high school students.

Just the thought of the oncoming burden has already caused some sophomores to experience the preceding symptoms, which include nervousness and anxiety.

Although it seems like this epidemic is inevitable and that there is little to no chance of survival, freshman and sophomores should not fret. The class of 2013 has been through the hard times, survived, and is excited and ready for their last year of high school!

Straight from one of the survivors themselves, Nahal Shakib says, “The hardest part of junior year is definitely balancing everything you have to do, but somehow you have to make it work!” Her favorite part of junior year, on the other hand, was “taking the leadership positions that [she] had been working towards.”

Geffen Treiman says, “I am looking forward to being a senior because that means I will get to go across during frees. I will also be the oldest grade!” She advises students in 9th and 10th grade to not “stress out too much or worry and focus on colleges yet because you will prob- ably change your mind a thousand times anyway about what colleges you like.”

Jasmine Chen says that the hardest part of junior year for her was “overcoming the exorbitant amount of test- taking required for college and AP’s.” Her advice on surviving junior year was to “see school as a place to further yourself intellectually and to cultivate your personality” rather than a place “solely preparing you to get into a prestigious college.” She believes “school is a place that will help you become a better person in the long run.”