The start of the new year is a change for many businesses, phones, and calendars; however, for St. Joe students, it comes with another change: a new semester. This new change is may be seamless but can be uneasy for some. From new teachers to new classes, the current juniors at St. Joe have a new path ahead of them.
Although completing the first semester of their third year at St. Joe is joyful for most juniors, there can still be some lingering sadness for first-semester classes some will not return to in the new year. For example, many electives offered to juniors, like Yoga I, are only available as a semester-long class.
Junior Caeleigh Edmiston completed Yoga I in the fall semester.
“[Yoga I] was such a great time to reflect on my morning and to have some peace before the rest of my day,” she said. “I’ll miss starting my day with it.”
Even though some classes and teachers will be missed, some juniors are eager to enter the spring semester to start fresh. The new semester is an excellent opportunity to refresh students’ study habits to maintain or improve their grades from last semester. This can help relieve some of the stress placed on grades and homework expectations. Starting a fresh semester is another way to reset one’s to-do list to stay on top of assignments and studying.
Junior Elise Wagner is ready to dive into the spring semester.
“I’m excited to strive to stay on top of my work and achieve my goals academically,” she said.
Elise is one of many juniors excited for the rest of the year. With Junior Ring right around the corner, it is evident that many juniors have exciting things to look forward to. Sooner rather than later, the juniors will ask some sophomores to create and design a ring box to hold the ring every junior will receive early this April.
Although many thrilling events are coming up in the next couple of weeks, some students are excited about their upcoming day-to-day lives, including some interesting and new classes.
While every junior takes Living the Gospel: Catholic Social Teaching, this semester’s students have a new addition to their class. Mr. Mikey Ward has become the new Living the Gospel teacher and is eager to commence teaching at St. Joe. Moreover, many of his students are excited to see what he has in store for this semester in theology.
Another class some students are looking forward to is Psychology with Mr. Scott Moore. Sure to be an enjoyable and interesting class, Mr. Moore’s Psychology class is one many students are glad to be taking.
Junior Sadie Neff is taking this class this semester.
“I’m so happy to be taking Psychology this semester. I hope it will be a good class to start the day with,” she said.
Whether because of Yoga I, Psychology, Living the Gospel, Junior Ring, or anything else, the 2024 spring semester at St. Joe will surely be full of excitement and learning for the junior class. As the new year commences, the junior class at St. Joe is hopeful for a bright start.
