Junior year is normally when the idea of college is thrown in your face. College essays, researching colleges, standardized testing, GPAs, activities, volunteer hours, clubs, and the list goes on. Instead of freaking out over the impending burnout of junior year, it’s better to even out the stress. The start of freshman year is the perfect time to create a healthy, prepared approach to college.
Upperclassmen tend to flood college counselors’ offices as applications draw near, trying to fit as many possible additions to their resumes. This, however, is not a good approach.
“It’s pretty common for students to come in saying ‘I didn’t have enough,’ or ‘I quickly need to pick up some volunteering because it’ll look good,’ which is typically not endorsed,” Counselor Dylan Hackbarth said. “What you could say is, ‘I want to find some volunteering that is aligned with my interests [or] my passions, that’s different.’”
Preparing early can decrease the seemingly abundant anxiety that junior year holds. Let’s look into the first year of high school, and what you should do to get ready.
It’s freshman year, and you’re in a new school. While wandering the hallways to find your classes, the last thing on your mind is college, but it should be. Freshman year is the time to start exploring your interests. If there’s an opportunity presented to you to try something new, by all means, take it. Get out of your comfort zone in order to find things that you have passion for or just plainly detest.
If there’s a volunteer opportunity to speak on an issue in the community, take it! If there’s an opportunity to volunteer at elementary schools, take it! If you want to help promote a cause that is dear to you, start a club or join one! Start taking initiative in areas of interest.
“I often talk to students about seeing their life as a budget, or their time as a budget,” says Hackbarth. “If you had 24 dollars, one for each day, where would you spend it? Seven or eight are being spent on college, on high school, family obligations, part time jobs, maybe sports. You also need seven to eight hours of sleep. When we think about it in terms of dollars, I would always remind a student that we can’t go into debt to make a certain schedule work.”
Considering your budget, start organizing your time. Harvard University suggests planning out your whole high school schedule course-wise in freshman year, including the right balance of normal, enriched, AP, or PSEO classes. Planning gives more certainty and confidence, not only in completing required courses, but in ensuring you have what it takes to be competitive for eventual applications.
Those interested in the medical field could take chemistry, future MBAs could take DECA, and the chefs of tomorrow could take International Foods. Of course, your freshman year plan can always change. If you get to junior year, and APUSH turns into USH, that’s okay too.
By the time you’re an upperclassman, you’ll have main areas of interest and be on the right path to accomplishing your needed credits with a balance of challenging and normal classes. The activities that you stick with will have leadership positions open up, ready for you to take. This is your time to take the lead.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Oct. 2, 2025
