Surviving the sophomore slump

Parents Forum
1

<p>Most college articles focus on the "freshman experience" but this is one of the few I have come across that offers important insight into the challenges that come next. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Sophomore year is often referred to as the "sophomore slump." Basically, it's a reality check that freshman year was a unique experience... It is also the first time that college becomes real. You're no longer transitioning from a high schooler to a college student; you are now officially a college student. ...</p>

<p>This year is all about learning what it really means to be independent. Spending days bustling about on your own, no longer clinging to your mass of friends for support or glued to the phone with your mom asking how to handle your life (even though my mom still gets far too many of those phone calls) is independence at its best. Time managing, stressing, over planning your life, or under planning your life, hours at the library, less Wednesday nights out, too much caffeine and not enough sleep-all can be associated with the slump and although many weeks of this year seemed endless we learned a lot, and not just academically. I know I learned how much I can pile on my plate until I'm ready to scream and now I know when I need to stop and breath and stop agreeing to every opportunity that presents itself to me....

[/quote]
</p>

<p><a href="http://media.www.concordy.com/media/storage/paper858/news/2007/05/31/Opinions/From-The.Editors.Desk.Surviving.The.Sophomore.Year-2911129.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.www.concordy.com/media/storage/paper858/news/2007/05/31/Opinions/From-The.Editors.Desk.Surviving.The.Sophomore.Year-2911129.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>Didn't experience much of it because I was a transfer as a sophomore student so lots of things were pretty exciting to me :) Then again, I had it a bit late- in the first semester of my junior year when the reality really sunk in! Too much coffee/tea, stressing, overplanning my future, etc, etc.</p>

3

<p>Actually, our kid has pretty much had a sophomore steadily rising curve.</p>

4

<p>My S had a rewarding sophomore year as well and learned to his great advantage just how much he could pile on his plate without cracking it which probably is one of the best lessons learned in this transition year. Then again, he took a full load of courses freshman year and much preferred his housing situation second year. All frosh dorms can be a real zoo. He did fess up though, that while he hates coffee and usually never touches the stuff he actually drank some this past year. He never seems to sleep enough so nothing new on that score. On the whole though, those almost inevitable bouts of doubt and introspection that he and his dorm-mates dealt with as they helped each other through thick and thin to get through the year were extremely positive signs of independence and adjustment to the brass tacks of life - in and out of college. Thankfully, he still loves it all, and what he doesn't love is still ok because he is still more than eager to pile his plate high.</p>

<p>I like the OP article because while freshman do get and certainly need a great deal of attention, I am not at all surprised to read that educators agree that sophomores receive the least attention of any class. The National Resource Center for the First-year Experience and Students in Transition, based at the University of South Carolina, offers links to valuable information and much needed resources for sophomores.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/soph/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/soph/index.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/assessment/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/assessment/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Educators at Muhlenberg College recognize that sophomores have to deal with "a whole new set of stressors ...unlike freshman they receive fewer warnings about the do’s and don’ts of college life; they are expected to know how things work."</p>

<p><a href="http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:Q9xSk49PEdsJ:www.muhlenberg.edu/students/counseling/SophomoreSlump.pdf+Muhlenberg+college+sophomore+slump&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:Q9xSk49PEdsJ:www.muhlenberg.edu/students/counseling/SophomoreSlump.pdf+Muhlenberg+college+sophomore+slump&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Beloit College has a program called the "Sophomore Year Initiative" that aims to provide concrete advice and workshops on the importance of cultivating patience, self-discovery, networking, making friends (on an elevator no less) as well as finding internships:</p>

<p>
[quote]
The sophomore year is likely to be a time when students find they cannot obtain the courses, housing, financial aid, or the type of academic advising and institutional attention they may have received as freshmen. For sophomores college is no longer new--the excitement and thrill of a new experience has worn away, and they now face the reality that college will be three more years of hard work, courses, papers, and significant financial investment. These feelings of transition also come at a time when students may be struggling to determine career goals, dealing with personal development issues, and experiencing other diversions that may make academic and social integration even more difficult to attain....

[/quote]
</p>

<p><a href="http://www.beloit.edu/%7Esyi/sophmore_retreat/tips_and_tools/networking.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.beloit.edu/~syi/sophmore_retreat/tips_and_tools/networking.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.beloit.edu/%7Esyi/sophmore_retreat/tips_and_tools/slump.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.beloit.edu/~syi/sophmore_retreat/tips_and_tools/slump.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>