Junior spring: lock in or let go

On our way home from a Saturday-night dinner on Eddy Street last weekend, my friends and I ran into a couple of American freshmen looking to convince passersby that they were Irish international students. We quickly became sidetracked, compelled to inform our new, heavily-accented friends that they needed to wear coats and gloves over their sweatshirts if they were going to stand outside in a polar vortex. They asked why we were acting like their mothers; we laughed and left them to their freezing activities. 

Debriefing at the dining hall the next morning, my friends and I discussed the kids we’d met the night before. They were having so much fun, standing outside talking to strangers, while we scheduled library dates for weekend nights. What had happened to us? 

Readjusting to Notre Dame since being off-campus in the fall has been rougher than expected. I find myself doing homework on Saturday mornings that I used to spend rotting in bed, and I’m staying in most nights of the week, opting for a movie or studying over leaving campus with my friends. I go to the dining hall and barely recognize anyone inside; for the first time, I’m older than half the people in my classes. While obviously natural consequences of getting older, these observations are jarring to me — why am I so suddenly busy? Where is everyone? 

My friends and I have dissected this at length. We’ve broken down the answers to what changed in the transition from sophomore to junior year, and spending spring on-campus: 

1. The first factor keeping the average on-campus junior in the Hesburgh trenches this spring is the pressure to hunker down and prepare for senior year. You want to underload your final-ever semester; you’re cramming the last few requirements of your second minor to make room for your thesis — you just discovered Arts & Letters has a third science/math requirement? (True story). In any case, we’re all taking the most inconveniently-timed, writing-intensive and unexpectedly challenging course load of all time. 
2. On top of classes, everyone is ascending to club leadership positions, accepting elevated work responsibilities and finding harder research opportunities. In between, we’re trying to figure out where we’re living next year and making last-ever summer internship plans. Each one of these things feels like a full-time job; it’s no wonder my roommate and I haven’t had a chance to try the TV in our room, even after two weeks of the semester. 
3. The biggest adjustment has been having friends abroad. It’s sad to realize that you returned to campus to only half of the welcome party you’re used to. However, I’m not letting missing my friends define my semester; all the time spent leaving my dorm for things I might ordinarily skip (study groups, dinners after I already ate, etc.) has stretched my limited time even further, but also allowed me the opportunity to make new friends. Pushing myself into new social situations, which I dread nearly as much now as I did when I was a freshman and a new transfer, has already turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of my junior year. 

One of my friends yesterday told me her absolute least favorite thing about being a second-semester junior: she worries that the experiences on her resume aren’t cohesive, and she hates that she regrets joining things because they sounded fun or interesting instead of forming a specific professional narrative. It’s such common advice to hear as a freshman that it’s okay not to know what you want to do with your life, to join anything and everything that interests you and not to put yourself in a box. While I believe that this is good advice (and trying new things is what college should be about!), it’s understandable as a junior to compare your LinkedIn to the seniors getting accepted into Ivy League grad schools, or job offers from top companies, and wish that you had tailored your interests and experiences from the start. 

Many of us juniors are experiencing the panic of trying to beef up their resume, studying for standardized tests (I take my first LSAT in two short weeks!) or realizing it’s time to start seriously exploring career options. Some people are ahead, but most aren’t: the only advice I had for my friend, and for myself, was to keep using the adage we’d been given our first year. Make like the freshmen and join a new club or try a new class; it may be just what sets your application apart. 

There’s no doubt that the start of this semester has been rocky. I do, however, have to share with you the same conclusion that our NDH table always arrives at after our long complaining sessions: You can look at every hard aspect of being on-campus this spring as an opportunity. Friends away? Go out and make some new ones! Feeling extracurricular regret? It’s never too late to join a new club or apply for an internship in a new field. Want to change majors? I probably wouldn’t recommend it, but do what you gotta do. We’ll be locked in with you.