The Spring Semester Sophomore Slam

Playtime's over kids; it's your future calling!

Originally published on January 30, 2017

As a college sophomore just starting the spring semester, it’s quickly dawning on me how important this semester is in the grand scheme of my college career. I’ve got a pretty long list of all I need to accomplish before the semester and year are over, and I’m sure others in my position are feeling the beginning of this crunch. Our freshman year is over and we’re fully acclimated into the college lifestyle and our majors. Now what? By the time this semester is finished, sophomores will be halfway done with their bachelor’s degrees. That means they’re in the second half of their college years and it is time to start thinking about the future!

One of the ways to remind us that our degrees are halfway finished it to subject us to a sophomore review. This may not be the same for every major and every department, but for me at least, it requires a portfolio with evidence of academic accomplish and a couple papers describing my accomplishments so far and what I intend to do in my remaining two years. Add the performance aspect (I am a music major, after all), and my professors will determine if I can continue in the program. Despite my comfort in knowing I have done everything necessary to continue, I still have to do the work and prove to my professors that I should stay. It’s something extra that isn’t attached to a class or a grade, but is still an integral part of my education.

This is the semester when you should start looking for internships for the summer. True, many programs recommend the summer after junior year as the best time for this, but the summer after sophomore year is even better to get one because you will have room for another one later. If I’ve learned anything besides network, network, network, it’s the more experience, the better.

This is also the semester when you should start thinking about graduate school, which will not happen for another two years, but it is never too early to start looking. Just getting a small idea of what schools and programs are out there and whatever their requirements for admission are will help you in junior and senior year when you need to start applying. The less stress you can put upon your future self, the better. At least, that’s the theory.

Since I am only a sophomore, I can’t speak to what I’ll be feeling the spring semester of my senior year. I feel like there will be a lot of work getting there, but since most of the work will be done, hopefully whatever my path is supposed to be after graduation will be clear. The sophomore slam will keep me busy for a couple months, but it will all be worth it in a couple years.