There are hundreds of people at Mt. Vernon High School every year. With all of these different people, there is a lot of variety. However, there are still stereotypes for each year of high school that are often proven true.
Freshman Funk is the name for when freshmen essentially have a hard time adjusting to high school. They are overstressed. They are not used to dealing with long hours of after school extracurricular activities with high amounts of homework. This leads to spikes in anxiety and a constant desire for the summer to come back. It also applies to the stress from new social situations, like classes with other grades, or low motivation levels.
While a majority of students at Mt. Vernon agreed with Freshman Funk, many only rated it as fitting them as a four out of five. This was from 48.4 percent of the 64 Freshman surveyed agreeing with a four or a five. However, 28.1 percent rated it as a four.
Most of the students who agreed to this said it due to increased stress from new homework loads and long hours from sports. In the end, most students do believe in Freshman Funk.
Later years also have stereotypes. Sophomore year has Sophomore Slump, the time when most students lose motivation. Classes start getting harder, and students may start procrastinating and doing the bare minimum. The work ethic they had usually starts to disappear, and students put less effort in.
Most students completely related to Sophomore Slump. Seventeen of the 53 Sophomores surveyed rated their experiences as a five out of five match with Sophomore Slump. 29 out of 53 rated it as a four or a five.
Nearly every student surveyed agreed that it is hard to manage a heavy work load with new levels of low motivation. For many, they agreed they have stress and procrastination, but they still get work done. Nevertheless, this shows extensive agreement with Sophomore Slump.
Junior Jitters is essentially the name for the stress juniors experience. Junior year often has the most intensive classes of high school, and that usually means high work loads. Many students also start after school jobs and new programs, like career classes, that add to their plates. Students are pushed to prepare for college, and the decisions they make seem more real. All of this contributes to high stress and anxiety.
A majority of students agree they have Junior Jitters, but they did not agree very heavily. 29 of the 53 students surveyed rated it as a four out of five. That is about 55 percent. Otherwise, roughly 40 percent of all rated Junior Jitters as a four or a five fit for them. Of the responses, nearly everyone mentioned a feeling of burnout.
Many students experience increasing pressure from the feeling they need to work towards college. Others described strain from their coaches and parents. This increased stress and pressure all relates to Junior Jitters.
One of the most well known stereotypes for the high school experience is Senioritis. Senioritis is essentially when seniors stop putting effort into high school. They usually know they are leaving and where they are going. Especially later in their senior year, it is relatively impossible to stop these plans from happening. This leads to many seniors losing motivation. They stop putting effort into school. They also know it is their last year, so sometimes they feel the pressure to focus on their social lives. They want to make good memories outside of school.
Senioritis had much less mixed results than the other stereotypes surveyed. Roughly 42 percent of every senior surveyed said they experienced Senioritis as a five out of five fit. Forty of the fifty-seven responders all rated it as a four or a five. There were many mixed reasons for this.
A number of students reasoned that they had already been accepted to college and had their future set in stone. Others said they have been extensively tired and emotionally exhausted, while some mentioned a feeling that their school year is pointless.
The immaturity seniors both see in other people and see themselves being treated as was also a huge reason behind senioritis. For many, this means focussing on their social life, especially because their time left in high school is limited. Senioritis really does feel like a weight on the shoulders of seniors.
No matter what people are experiencing in their high school experiences, they can all feel different pressures from each school year. Often, that leads to people falling into stereotypes like Senioritis or Freshman Funk. While a high number of people experience these things, there is always some disagreement. Each experience is a person’s own, whether or not they fit the usual mold.