Written by Tatyana Phelps, Managing Editor

To every student beginning his or her sophomore year,

First off, I’ll start by saying congratulations! You survived your first year of college. You’re no longer a rookie and you have a bit of a better understanding of just how college works. However, there’s still a lot to learn and experience about college. For some of you, this is a great time to start joining organizations and getting more involved on campus. If you’re anything like me, this will be your year to recover after not doing as well during your freshman year.

After finishing a whole year of college, many of you may have second thoughts about your major. Maybe it’s time to think about changing your major. Your sophomore year is a great time to change your major. You’ve only taken core classes, which usually apply for every major, so you won’t waste any time or any credits. For many of you, this may not be the only time that your major changes. Don’t feel bad; you won’t be the first or the last person to change your major once or even more than once. Just remember, the later in your college career you change your major, the longer you’ll have to be in school.

Since you still have three years of college left, sophomore year is a time to still have fun, but not as much fun as freshman year. The “party every weekend” thing is pretty expected your first year, but now it’s time to buckle down just a little. The closer to graduation, the more serious things get. If you still make mistakes or your GPA isn’t quite where you want it to be, don’t worry. You still have time to correct your mistakes and improve your GPA. However, don’t take that as an excuse to slack off, because dropping your GPA is the easiest thing in the world but raising it is a whole different story.

You’ll find that each year of college goes by even faster than the last one. Still make time for a little bit of fun and it is still college—enjoy it. Best of luck to you all with sophomore year!