When colleges look over a student transcript, admissions officers focus mainly on a student’s sophomore, junior and senior years. Although still taken into account by colleges, freshman year is more of a “freebie.”

Junior Tim Lycurgus tried to beat the system freshman year by slacking and procrastinating more than he wishes he had; now he knows the error of his ways.

“During freshman year I was just happy to be done with Redwood [and] in high school,” said Lycurgus. “I didn’t really care that much because college was far off and the [freshman] classes were easy.”

Lycurgus pulled off pretty good grades for the most part back then, but his lackadaisical effort eventually managed to catch up with him.

“When I got back a poor Algebra 2 test that year, I realized high school wasn’t so easy,” said Lycurgus.

As a student who generally received A’s on tests, he was crushed by the grade. That test was the motivation Lycurgus needed to get himself more focused on his grades and his future after high school.

“After that, I started studying way more than I used to,” said Lycurgus. “Then last year it really hit me because I realized colleges would look at every single grade I would be getting for the next three years.”

Since that bad test, Lycurgus claims that his grades have improved, and he attributes that to his newfound perspective.

“I’ve paid more attention during class and began to take more thorough notes. I also make sure to review my notes and study before a test,” said Lycurgus. “Now I come into every test I take feeling confident that I will get an A.”

Freshman year was also overwhelming for Lycurgus in a sense that during the final weeks of school, he was stressed by the desire to raise his grades thorugh finals. Last year, that was not the same case, as Lycurgus did not need to cram as much at the last moment.

“Unlike freshman [year] when I had to raise my grades during finals, all I needed to do was maintain them last year, and that was a lot less stressful,” said Lycurgus.

Lycurgus’s academic life may have changed a lot since freshman year, but socially, he’s the same person.

“Since freshman year, I haven’t really changed who I hang out with. It [has] been the same people that I’m always with,” said Lycurgus. “I think that we can attribute that to the fact that we are really close.”

Unlike many long-term friendships, Lycurgus and his friends have not hit any roadblocks since they became really good friends in middle school.

“If anything, our friendship has gotten much stronger over the course of high school. We are really close and I think that it will stay that way until we get to college,” said Lycurgus.

One of the ways that Lycurgus and his friends bond is through the spirited Thursday themes they dress up to.

“We always look forward to Thursdays now,” said Lycurgus. “The themes were created just for the purpose of making Thursday as enjoyable as Fridays.”

While his group of friends may have not changed much since his freshman year, he’s knows he has improved as a student and is ready to take on tougher courses.

“I like having good grades, and I take pride in my grades,” said Lycurgus. “But in general, I just feel much more confidant and better about myself.”