What is a Sophmore - Aidan Mahoney

What is a Sophomore?

    What is a high school sophomore? When the question was asked in class I remember there naturally being many answers having to do with the grade someone was in. This is correct, the actual term sophomore is the title for a grade in high school. But is there more to the term?

    To me a sophomore isn't just a title, rather a stage of someone's life. If you are sophomore, at least in America, the average age in the grade is 15-16. Just by saying that I figure some will automatically think “Teen”, or “Young”, maybe “Old” or “Attitude”. These are all possible first thoughts when thinking of that age and grade in someone's life. A lot of “new” happens in high school so I’ve been told.

    Many students are experiencing not only a new stage of maturity and responsibility, being treated closer to an adult, but also a new stage within them and their mindsets. With a higher demand and level of work in school as well as getting jobs outside of school, students gain skills helpful once out of highschool and experience new challenges they may have never before. From what I’ve seen, students around this age are possibly narrowing down a long term sport or activity that they want to pursue through high school and even college or farther. 

    When most people begin or are far through this stage in their sophomore year, that creates an abundance of those with a similar mindset level throughout the grade. The sophomore year is in that middle territory, when this mindset is occurring. 

    A sophomore in short is more than a title or grade, it is a stage in which students are developing and beginning to narrow down what they want for their future. This mindset and term differs from person to person and their perspective, this is just my opinion and as a sophomore. Thank you for reading.