Sophomore: wise fool

What does it mean to be a sophomore?

According to Dictionary.com, a sophomore is derived from the roots sophos meaning “wise” and moros meaning “foolish, dull.” Yes, sophomore literally means “wise fool.”

As one myself, I can relate: being a sophomore means I’m suspended in this weird paradox of being a “wise fool.” For example, I feel a certain sense of supremacy because I am no longer the youngest at the school, but I am not cool enough yet to be an upperclassman.

I have more work to do than an average freshman, but I am not dying under mountains of work the way many juniors do, and I am not sleeping in my bed at 9 a.m. to “accidentally” miss class as I imagine a senior would.

When someone asks me what grade I am in and I respond with “sophomore,” they don’t have any interesting follow-up questions to ask. This is because sophomore year is quite boring: high school is no longer new for me, but I’m still too young to experience the real fun of high school. Sophomore year just feels like a year I need to complete to be one step closer to college.

Perhaps the most exciting part of being a sophomore is that  having passed my 15.5 year mark, I can start to learn to drive. Trying to earn that driving permit, and eventually, that driver’s license, acts as a slightly adequate break from the mundane side of life. I can exploit this new freedom in many ways, although it comes with extreme responsibility.

My parents will no longer be required to drive me to school, other classes and events. I will be able go wherever I want whenever I want in a decently short amount of time (compared to biking, my current mode of transportation).

As always, I will need to be careful with my actions and try not to get into an accident or have some other type of mistake. However, there is always that good part of any situation in life. Who knows? If I crash a car and get injured, I might have a unique life experience that I could use for college apps. Maybe I could finally leave the boring past behind.

With that being said, there isn’t all that much to look forward to either. From many upperclassmen, I hear about the mysterious force that APUSH-es their GPA to a point that is “unfit” for college acceptance. I also hear about the infamous AP Physics tests where a 70 percent on a test is a respectable grade. These tasks seem like they can only be completed after some soul-destruction, which I would gladly opt out of.

Or am I just being lazy or overly pessimistic?

I’ll find out next year.