Palatine High School has seen the end of its first quarter at the end of October, and so far it appears that students are surviving the challenge known as junior year. With college coming closer and closer, students are under the stress of preparing for the ACT and getting ready to submit papers and applications to colleges across the nation. However, some students are handling the pressure really well, which raises the question, is junior year really the hardest year?

A sophomore at Harper and Palatine alumni would agree. “I took my hardest classes junior year. Fortunately, this made my senior year the easiest out of all four years” said Benjamin Bosco. But when he is asked if junior year’s difficulty is overrated, Bosco replied. “[Yes] I do think people overestimate the difficulty a lot.”

However, not all students would agree with Bosco. “No, I don’t think people exaggerate the difficulty” says Palatine junior Radin Marinoff. “Junior year is a really hard year. This has been the most difficult first quarter for me since I started high school.”

Many question what exactly makes junior year exponentially more difficult. Most students will say the ACT is the most stressful test you will take in high school.

Other students say that the average level junior classes are the biggest difficulty spikes in high school. It should not matter what level of English science, or math classes you are taking as a junior. Students are placed in those classes because they will still see difficulty in them, and they are learning at a pace that still challenges them.

Whether or not a student is on the high or low spectrum of your graduating class in junior year, the difficulty of the year will ultimately depend on what kind of person the student is, and how seriously they take their ACT and college preparation.

“People put the most pressure on you to do well and support yourself [junior year]…” says Palatine English teacher Jason Wodzien. “Whether it is in sports, academics, your job, or anything that applies to you.” Wodzien happens to teach juniors at Palatine High School so he works with juniors often.

There are plenty of variables that go into a school year, like having a teacher you do not feel teaches the best, or whether or not you are playing zero sports versus three. There are also time consuming clubs at Palatine that students may or may not take that could affect the workload they do at school.

A general consensus is that most students will tell you their most difficul year in high school is junior year, but it is not the same result for every person. It ultimately depends on how much time and work you put into college at your classes for each year. Some students start at sophomore year, and some students really struggle senior year because they wait until then to start getting ready.