Dear Spring Semester Cornell Sophomore,
Especially over the course of the Spring Semester when the winter weather is still in full force, it’s easy to feel as though you are in a “slump”—sometimes known as the “Sophomore Slump.”
For the most part, nothing is new. If you have been at Cornell since your freshman Fall Semester, you are very much settled into your routine. To echo the “Open Letter to a Cornell Sophomore,” you no longer have worries about where you will sit during class, you no longer wait in line for brunch in RPCC, and you no longer take general classes that only tangentially relate to your major.
While routine feels comfortable and pleasant at times, your schedule may start to feel monotonous and you may miss the variability of freshman year—already looking forward to when you are an upperclassmen next year, living in Collegetown, considering study abroad, and approaching graduation.
Don’t wish your college years away! Sophomore year is a special time in your undergraduate years: it is a perfect balance of comfort from friends and mature adult life. You are still young enough to change your major or even your college, but you are old enough for people to take you seriously if you’re someone who knows exactly what they want to do. You are new enough to school to still explore new extracurriculars, but old enough where it is possible for you to accept leadership positions. You are in a place where it is equally acceptable to know or not know who you are or what your favorite niche is.
Instead of viewing your sophomore year as a “slump,” embrace the year for what it is. Instead of feeling caught in an in-between stage of college, take advantage of the time that you still have to make your mark here. You have your friends; you know your way around. Now what? Now is your chance to switch majors or add a minor before it’s too late. Now is your chance to decide you want to pursue some quirky activity that we have here. Now is your chance to look into study abroad programs all over the world. You have enough time to accomplish everything on your Cornell bucket list, if you choose to do so.
