#IncomingSophomoreAdvice

Yay! You’ve done your time as a “freshman” and can ditch the negative connotations that the most basic underclassmen status can socially bring (I still love you, freshman year!) But, it does sound a bit older to say sophomore.

By this time, break-ups have happened: with friends, boyfriends, family—to you or as a witness. Whatever you didn’t do last year and you regretted it, remedy it this year—someway, somehow. 

Now, the older guys don’t seem as big of a deal as they did when they were freshman (at least to a sophomore girl’s eye), but to parents, it’s the same. But, you’ve had a year of personal or secondary experience in the big leagues to aid in guiding you. All I can think about with guys and sophomore year is getting to ride in a guy’s car; on dates, to and from school, it’s getting to witness someone else’s knowledge, action, and the only place that is truly theirs. (If you don’t have your own place, your car is the closest thing you’ve got.)

I didn’t even think of it freshman year, but dances! Enjoy going shopping for that dress and all the accessories that are *you.* There’s nothing like girl power in going with your friends, just like there’s something about getting asked and picked up. At least at my high school, you were lucky if you could bear the sight of the moves that went on without completely gagging and hold back from using a women studies textbook to whack girls over the head with. 

Here’s the time when you get to pull up to school driving yourself. Sometime between freshman year and now, a lot of people take driver’s ed. Great luck on your tests! For me, it was an unexpected place to make friends; four years later, one of my closest friends is one of the girls I hung out with there.  

I could go on about the responsibilities and risks of driving, period, and here’s another place where I’m about to say things you know, but I can’t feel okay unless I know I’ve told you (:

• Stop signs mean nothing to other people—people will blow through those things either for visual ignorance or internal arrogance. Drive defensively! 
• Always check the backseat of your car before you get in, especially at night, to make sure no one is there. 
• I’m sure you have a family and friends to get back to—no text, app, or phone call is worth sacrificing yourself. This goes for human distractions as the music’s bumping and there’s a car full of you. 
• Keep a set of jumper cables, a blanket, water, jackets, and extra pants. While I’ve only had to use these for an impromptu picnic (had my blanket!) and getting caught in a rain storm, it was this last item that made me glad my dad made me gather up all those things and keep them in my trunk; I can’t imagine getting stuck by myself and facing the elements alone.
• If you get a flat tire, reject all unknown help, accepting only that from those you know. There are too many cases gone wrong in this book, which I highly, highly recommend for vigilance and to keep as knowledge, but don’t want anyone to become paranoid to the point of not enjoying their life and neither does the author. Safety is an issue I feel all young women need to be well-versed in and self-defense one to be apt in.

Academically, it’s the year of the PSAT, the first AP classes, and learning even more about what you’re interested in. You can apply for college scholarships even now, and for that, grades do matter. 

Volunteering is a great way to more deeply explore options; find where you’d most like to spend your time, on your best and worst day, and hopefully you’ll find the perfect fit. Spend your time wisely and extract all the lessons you can in every experience! 

Again, I stress enjoy this slice of youth. I hope you’ll go to those football games, find someone special’s eye in the hallways or head turns in class, and unearth even more that you didn’t know about yourself.  

My sophomore year: Smiling infatuation. Blissful euphoria. Gasping heartbreak. What seemed like eternal injustice. Wanting to be a doctor. Falling in love with microbiology. Driving alone for the first time to with my sister’s Disney movie soundtrack playing. CHIPOTLE. The six months nobody-but-family-in-the-car state driving rule. AP tests. The food fight.