Story by: Madison Wilder, Managing Intern

Photo courtesy of hercampus.com

Now that I am officially halfway through the first semester of my sophomore year here at Aquinas, I can say that school really has been a struggle. I came into my freshman year as one of the freshest of the bunch. It was my first time going to school without having a job since my freshman year of high school, and it was my first time going to a school where every single person doesn’t know me because I was no longer living in the shadow of an older sibling or, better yet, a father who taught at my school. Pretty much the whole year was nothing but new, exciting and fun. I was essentially “high on college.”

Going into year two was definitely exciting at the start as well. I was happy to be back on campus with the now familiar faces, back to the sporting events, and I will even say I was excited to get back to seeing those friends you only talk to when you see each other in Wege. Summer had been filled with work at a retail store and it was boring. Home isn’t the same, saying goodbye to your childhood friends at the end of summer isn’t even marginally close to as traumatic as it was when you left for school the first time. However, all this “back to school” giddiness only lasted about four days as opposed to over half the year freshman year.

I’ve always heard of the sophomore slump and now I can say I understand. After those first four days into the school year I realized that I am still finishing up some boring general education classes, taking more credits than I want to and I am not even close to any sort of exciting mark of my college career (i.e Graduation, a killer internship, 21st birthday). I feel like at the moment, I have nothing within reach to look forward to.

To combat this horrible sinking feeling that I and many of my peers are walking around with, I have made myself busy. I realized that I need to have a job and be involved in some activities in order to force myself to survive. If I am not involved, I find that I spend my free time watching TV, shopping, or doing generally anything I shouldn’t be wasting my time with.

I have taken the time to spread myself thin enough to where I have no choice but to do everything I need to do. I have work at a job I enjoy as a productive getaway from my homework, I have joined a book club here to force myself to put some extra time into some of my classes and I am here, writing for the newspaper.

I can happily and stressfully say that I am a busy gal. However, being busy has been forcing me to put in the allotted time that I have towards my studies and kick the sophomore slump in the butt. I advise my fellow sophomore Saints to pick up a club or a few extra hours on the clock to make yourself involved and get through this rather anticlimactic academic year.

About the Writer…

Madison Wilder is a sophomore student from Grand Haven, Michigan. Her interest and hobbies include swimming, reading, being outside, and reading/editing newspapers.