Every year at the end of the first semester, dozens of paper rollercoasters are carried around by sophomores, to whom the sound of a marble finishing its journey on the paper track brings immense joy. The rollercoasters, more than a project to end the Integrated Physics and Chemistry Motion and Energy unit, is a symbol of what is known as the bane of every sophomore’s existence: IPC.
At Webb, sophomore year is infamous. Freshmen are warned about the struggles that lie ahead, and upperclassmen laugh in gratitude that it will not be them carrying around a paper rollercoaster this year. With the fear surrounding it, the thought of entering sophomore year is sometimes met with dread, but is sophomore year really that difficult?
The short answer is yes. Sophomore year is objectively difficult. Between the ramp up in academic challenge meant to prepare students for the workload of Advanced Studies courses as juniors and the emergence of more solidified social dynamics, it is a demanding year for many students.
“I think the 10th grade year is always challenging in a lot of ways, one because of the ramp up in academics, but I also think there’s a lot of social implications of 10th grade year; I think social dynamics get a little more complex and more solidified,” said Michael Hoe, Assistant Head of Schools. “Developmentally at the typical age of sophomores, around 16 or so, is where students are becoming more in tune with what they believe and who they are and their identity.”
Academically and socially, tenth grade is difficult. However, at Webb, the difficulty of the year is intensified by the stigma and fear surrounding it. From the moment students step foot on Webb’s campus, they are told by upperclassmen that sophomore year is the hardest at Webb. They are told that classes like IPC are difficult to understand and incredibly fast-paced. While to an extent, that may be true for some students, the way the Webb community exaggerates the difficulty and creates a stigma around the year makes it worse.
“I don’t think it’s as hard as everybody said it was going to be. It is definitely challenging; but, I had people telling me I needed to quit club soccer to go into sophomore year,” said Giada Mosaquites (‘28). “The stigma made me very afraid. I was so nervous coming into the year.”
The fact is that sophomore year can be difficult for many students. The classes are more academically challenging, social dynamics can change, and developmentally, students are coming into their own. There is not as much guidance and handholding as there was in freshman year, and that makes the year so much more challenging. But the reality is that students will make it through the year, and the majority of the time, do extremely well in difficult classes like IPC.
What gives sophomore year its power to make students afraid is the stigma held around it. It pushes the narrative that students have to be a genius to succeed in classes like IPC and Society, when in reality they just have to be as smart as Webb students are. The stigma does nothing but creates fear. The year is a rollercoaster and requires a lot of hard work, but it is not as inaccessible as the stigma around it makes it out to be.
