As the school year continues, students find themselves caught in a frenzy of classes, homework, and extracurricular activities. For sophomores, this is an important time in high school as they start studying subjects in greater depth, studying endlessly, and dealing with the difficulties of juggling it all. 

While the semester continues, it’s a good idea to take a minute to consider a sophomore’s experiences in Millennium. And today, I am here to review and debunk the rumors and myths of every class; I will give you my unique perspective on the challenges, solutions, and everything in between.

English:

One of the teachers from English 10 is Mr. Garfinkel. In this course, you will be reading a variety of dark books, such as 1984 by George Orwell, Klara and the Sun, and Everything I Never Told You, written by Celeste Ng. Along with these books come a LOT of post-it checks, essays, minute-long presentations, and collaborative group work. It is important in this class that you keep up to date with your assignments, as the post-it checks are frequent (and sometimes unexpected!). Also, make sure to talk to your groupmates! They will (most of the time) provide valuable input and make the class a lot more enjoyable.

Chemistry:

My current chemistry teachers are Ms. Konnova and Mrs. Salhany. This chemistry course is super similar to biology, except a lot more studying is involved… so make sure you pay attention during class (you will most likely be lost without understanding the content, I definitely space out and have to go to extra help in return)! The tests are also quite complicated and test your skills on whether you understand the fundamentals of the topic, not just memorization. Similar to the math tests, you will have to apply the concept to the question, and all the topics build on top of one another. The teachers are helpful and will explain the topic individually to you if you don’t understand, so make sure you ask questions. On the bright side, there’s rarely any homework!

Algebra 2:

This math course requires your utmost attention. Ms. Dang, who arguably is the best math teacher, explains the content very well and leaves you with plenty of time to complete classwork, practice problems, and chat with tablemates. This course, however, is very rigorous and demanding and had me doing an extra four hours of practice questions from delta math to study for the tests. The delta math itself is actually very doable and is a great resource for practicing. Along with the delta math assignments, there are also frequent delta math quizzes, usually scheduled on the day after the assignment is due. The quiz is usually just one question long and manageable. 

Spanish 2:

In my opinion, Spanish 2 is surprisingly easier than Spanish 1. In my experience, freshman year was my first year taking Spanish, which is probably why I struggled so much. However, if you can just push through the pain of all the tests in Spanish 1, Spanish 2 will most likely come easily to you. Ms Plati, the Spanish teacher, is super helpful, conversing in Spanish and English during class, which helps your comprehension for the listening tests. Overall, the workload for this class is definitely manageable, check VHL every night.

Global History:

This class is super chill. There usually isn’t much of a workload, in terms of homework, usually just one full page of a textbook reading (back and front). Ms. Kappler is usually on top of grading quickly and responding to emails/questions, so don’t be afraid to ask them! However, the tests are really complicated, and usually ask questions that have chronological order, so you might want to memorize most of the dates. For this course, I would suggest making a study guide as you go along with all the textbook readings, classworks, and video notes.

I know that challenges and tests are inevitable. Overall, just remember to check in with teachers, friends, and classmates for help (if needed); they will always be ready to lend a helping hand! And although academics are super important this time of year, just be sure to enjoy everything outside of the classroom, connecting with teachers and friends will really help make a difference during your time at Millennium.