The transition from freshman year to sophomore year has been a bigger change than expected. And I’m not the only one who feels this way. Almost all sophomores I know feel the workload has increased drastically in comparison to last year. I believe the change hit us all harder than we would thought it would.

In all honestly, freshman year was kind of a breeze for me. I made all A’s throughout the entire year. I did study for tests and quizzes, but not nearly as much as you would think considering my grades. My parents expect me to make good grades so it has always been this way for me.

This year, however, feels like I fell off a horse and got trampled by it and all of it’s friends. That’s putting it lightly. I have always had high expectations for myself when it comes to grades, so the fact that I am failing a class right now is definitely not an ideal situation for my parents or myself.

I have been up every night until at least 1:00 a.m. just doing homework and/or studying. Still, my grades don’t show that. It’s not that I’ve stopped trying. In fact, I have been putting more effort than last year. I have been so overwhelmed with work and studies already in these first four weeks that I have forgotten to eat, sleep and socialize, and many people feel the same.

A lot of this could have to do with the fact that I am taking a lot more PAP/AP classes than I was last year. The difference between PAP and on-level is not a huge difference to me. Personally, it just feels like a faster pace and a bit more homework.

On the other hand, AP and on level are completely different from one another. It makes sense considering it entails the harshness of a college level course. I took PAP classes last year, but no AP classes, so that could be part of the reason I feel so overwhelmed this year. As of right now I am doing more than double of the PAP/AP classes I took last year. These courses require a lot of hard work, studying and dedication.

If you are a freshman, enjoy the easy classes while they last because it honestly only gets harder from where you are. As long as you study hard and commit to what you sign up for, you should be fine.